Hunter Biden's family weathers a public and expansive airing in federal court of his drug addiction

In a span of less than 48 hours this past week, first lady Jill Biden shuttled from a Normandy ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France to the front row of a Delaware courtroom, where Hunter Biden is on trial in a gun case, and then back to Paris for an elaborate state visit at Élysée Palace.

“Here we are again,” the first lady said with a laugh as she and President Joe Biden were greeted by French President Emanuel Macron and his wife, Brigette, at the palace on Saturday, the light comment an oblique nod to her transatlantic commute.

It was a manifestation of the great lengths to which the Biden family has gone to support Hunter Biden as he stands trial in Wilmington, Delaware, accused of lying on a federal gun purchase form when he said he did not have a drug problem. Jill Biden has been a regular presence in the courtroom, buttressed by a rotating cast of other family members.

“The back and forth, the push and pull, of family responsibilities, of first lady duties, of her career, of the campaign — that’s just who she is,” said Elizabeth Alexander, the first lady’s communications director.

Every family wrestles with personal challenges, and politicians are often left to navigate those dynamics in public. But the very expansive airing in court of tawdry details surrounding Hunter Biden’s addiction – in the glare of an election year — is of an order of greater magnitude. And the president’s family has shown a determination to ensure Hunter Biden does not weather it alone.

The trial resumes Monday. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but he does not deny a drug problem. His memoir, “Beautiful Things,” is all about hitting bottom after his brother Beau’s death in 2015 from