Biden opens up about contemplating suicide after tragic deaths of first wife and daughter

President Joe Biden has opened up about how he comtemplated suicide following the tragic deaths of his first wife and baby daughter.

In an interview with Howard Stern on Friday, the president described how he turned to alcohol after the car crash that killed Neilia Biden and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi in 1972.

The incident in Delaware occurred shortly after Mr Biden was first elected to the US Senate.

“I just thought about it, you don’t need to be crazy to commit suicide… I never drank. That’s not a virtue, I just never drank,” he said.

“I used to sit there and just think to myself I’m going to take out a bottle of scotch… we always had liquor in the house. I thought I’m going to just drink it and get drunk.”

He added: “I could never bring myself to do it.”

He continued: “I just thought about it, you don’t need to be crazy to commit suicide. If you’ve been to the top of the mountain and you think it’s never gonna be there again.

“But I had two kids. And don’t get me wrong I wasn’t like ‘I gotta commit suicide’ but it was like ‘you’ve been to the top of the mountain… you’re never gonna be ok again’.”

Mr Biden went on to say that his two eldest children Beau and Hunter Biden, who had been injured but survived the car accident, had helped him through the period.

The president encouraged others to seek therapy if they experience similar feelings.

While surviving the car crash, Beau Biden also died in 2015 of brain cancer, something the president has stated he believes was linked to his son’s deployment in Iraq and his exposure to burn pits there.

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Biden told Mr Stern that he is willing to debate his presumptive Republican opponent, Donald Trump, later this year – his most definitive