Hunter Biden’s conviction is another painful twist for a family battered by tragedy

CNN —

It would be devastating for any parent to see a child convicted of a crime. To experience it as president before the eyes of the world, during one of the most contentious reelection campaigns in history, would be unfathomable.

But that is the ordeal now confronting President Joe Biden after his only surviving son Hunter was found guilty on all counts in a trial in Delaware over his possession of a gun while being addicted to drugs.

The jury delivered its verdict Tuesday less than two weeks after presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump learned he had been convicted of all 34 counts in a hush money trial in New York.

The double convictions represent a remarkable departure from traditional presidential campaigns. Never has a former president and presumptive major party nominee been convicted of a crime. Nor has the child of a sitting president. Both Hunter Biden and Trump pleaded not guilty.

Biden’s statement at the start of the trial — that “I am the president, but I am also a dad” — encapsulated the tension of his role as the titular head of the nation’s justice system and the pain he would naturally endure from seeing a cherished son, who has dealt with addiction and worked hard to recover, go on trial in the middle of a media storm.

Biden repeated that poignant line in a statement issued immediately after the verdict. And unlike former president Trump after his verdict, Biden accepted the jury’s judgment and the integrity of the legal system.

“Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery,” Biden