No. of Recommendations: 9
Hunter Biden addressed his addiction to alcohol and drugs in an op-ed today in USA Today, writing that his struggles with substance abuse disorder are not unique: at least 20 million Americans suffer in the same way he has, a struggle that has impacted their families in the same ways it has impacted his own.
He acknowledges that unlike most Americans, he grew up with privilege and opportunity and fully accepts that the choices and mistakes he made were his alone, and he is accountable for them.
He writes that what troubles him most in his recovery is the demonization of his addiction.
What troubles me is the demonization of addiction, of human frailty, using me as its avatar and the devastating consequences it has for the millions struggling with addiction, desperate for a way out and being bombarded by the denigrating and near-constant coverage of me and my addiction on Fox News (more airtime than GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis) and in The New York Post (an average of two stories a day over the past year).He points out the cruelty of the weaponization of addiction and the real threat that awaits those desperate to get sober but afraid of what may await them if they do.
It is not hard to see why: My recent haircut turned into a wild conspiracy to evade drug tests, tabloids steadily splash nude pictures of me on their covers, and even a member of Congress displayed revenge porn of me on national television.
My addiction doesn't justify Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui posting altered nude photos of me with "editorial creativity over the pictures." My addiction shouldn't permit the likes of Rudy Giuliani or a former Peter Navarro aide to debase and dehumanize me for their own gains. Former president Trump recently posted a message on Truth Social telling everyone to "leave my children alone". Children? And one of them, Ivanka, and her husband worked for him in the White House... but Trump and his surrogates have spent nearly every day -- certainly every week -- of the past three years terrorizing Hunter Biden, perhaps even hoping for his relapse. What has the republican-led House done this year besides waste five weeks trying to elect a Speaker other than terrorize Hunter Biden by committee?
If you know anyone struggling with addiction, his words will resonate. If you hate the Bidens, they'll still resonate but for different reasons.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2023... 