Jill Biden hails Hunter having his 'time to shine' as media tour raises questions about political ambitions

Former first lady Jill Biden praised her son, Hunter Biden, and his media "explosion" and momentum during an interview on Monday, telling podcast host Jamie Kern Lima that it was Hunter's "time to shine."

Kern Lima said during the interview on her podcast that Hunter could be the "next star" in the Biden family, pointing to his social media presence and several recent podcast interviews, in which he has opened up about his struggle with addiction and more.

"How do you and President Biden feel about his recent explosion?" she asked the former first lady.

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"We’re just so proud of him, that he can be so honest and say things other people won’t say, and feel comfortable with it, because he’s been through it," she said. "I think now is Hunter’s time to shine. He’s doing really good things."

She said it was amazing how things had turned around for him and that good things could come from bad things. Biden also described how it was "heartbreaking" for her to hear Hunter's memoir read aloud when he went to trial.

"But as parents, one of the toughest things I had to do was when Hunter was taken to court, and they played his book on tape in the courtroom, to hear him tell his story in his own words. I mean, it was like so heartbreaking. And I had my daughter Ashley, our daughter Ashley, next to me and it's just hearing the sound of his voice talking about it. And that's why I think, I don't know, it's amazing how things have turned around. So you see, I do believe a lot of times that good things come from bad things," Biden said.

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"He's now coming out and sharing, and people are listening to what he has to say. And it's just, there is something happening. And I can spot momentum a million miles away. There's something happening with Hunter Biden right now. Something's happening," Kern Lima added.

Biden agreed that something good was happening to him.

Biden has appeared on NPR's "Newsmakers," and the podcasts of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Don Lemon and "I've Had It." He's also appeared on a Barstool Sports podcast and with "The View" co-host Ana Navarro on her show, "Bleep!"

When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Newsbusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck responded to Jill Biden's remarks: "'Time to shine' is certainly one way to put it. I would certainly think of it as a cry for help or a plea for attention. Clearly, no one is interested in Hunter's terrible artwork, and since there's no serious influence left to peddle from anyone on Team Biden, the money spigot has dried up."

He continued, "All these interviews with rancorous figures in the podcasting world have shown is that the liberal, elitist media's protections of the Biden family for so long were solely out of self-preservation and their visceral hatred of Donald Trump (even though he's tremendous for their bottom lines). There's nothing hip, intriguing, or even stimulating about this crash-out."

During the conversation on Barstool Sports' "Macrodosing" podcast, the host known as Big Tennessee said, "As I see you making the rounds, it just seems like a guy who might want to run for something. And then I saw you come in the building today."

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The host said Hunter's reception when he entered the building was "of somebody that wants to run."

"I'm definitely not running for anything," Biden said, joking that if he secured the Barstool host's endorsement he might.

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Kern Lima asked Jill Biden during her conversation what she and former President Joe Biden would tell Hunter if he wanted to run for president, but the first part of her interview ended there.

Biden has also been outspoken about critics of his father over the 2024 election. He discussed Joe Biden's debate performance on the "Macrodosing" podcast.

"My dad walked out and he literally, for the first time in my life, I’ve ever seen this, he looked like a deer in the headlights. He looked blank. And what do I attribute that to?… I mean, we didn’t find out until nine months later that he not only had Stage 4 prostate cancer, but he had Stage 4 metastatic bone cancer, which means that it had been metastasizing for over a three-year period of time," he said.

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Biden's cancer diagnosis was not revealed until last year.

Hunter Biden said during the interview that his father's debate performance came as a complete surprise to him and that he hadn't seen him like that before that night.