Pres. Joe Biden Says He's 'So Damn Proud' of His Son Hunter Biden for Overcoming His Drug Addiction at Ohio Town Hall
U.S. President Joe Biden walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on July 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden is traveling to the Cincinnati, Ohio area to visit a training center for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and for a town hall event with CNN. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Joe Biden has talked about his son Hunter Biden with pride during a town hall event in Ohio on Wednesday night for recovering from his drug addiction.

"I am so damn proud of my son," Joe Biden told CNN host Don Lemon on stage at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio. The president recalled when Hunter Biden wrote a book about how he overcame being addicted, The Washington Times reported.

"And he (Hunter Biden) did it and he's doing it. And he is in good shape, thank God," the president noted.

Joe Biden talked about his son as he lay out a series of solutions to tackle the nation's drug abuse epidemic. The president has demanded more federal resources for addicts and mandatory rehab to replace incarceration.

The president noted that the United States does not have enough people involved in mental health and drug addiction services. Joe Biden suggested sending people who are using drugs to mandatory rehabilitation and not to jail, according to Daily Mail.

"When people are in jail... if that's not the main crime... they should be getting treatment while they are in jail," he added.

Joe Biden further noted that if people get out of jail, whether for drug addiction or any other crime, "they should have full access to everything from Pell grants to public housing."

The president said that addiction is a disease of the brain and has to be treated as such. Hunter Biden has been the target of controversy ever since the presidential campaign trail of his father.

The president's son has caused trouble and dragged the family name from one issue to another, particularly his foreign business dealings.

Addiction History of Joe Biden's Family

Reports had revealed that five close family members of Joe Biden have been to rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, according to another Daily Mail report.

The president's brother, Frank; children, Hunter and Ashley; and his niece Caroline; as well as his son's widow, Hallie, have all suffered from addiction issues and had been residents of treatment centers.

Some entered rehabilitation centers under the orders of a judge. The president is reportedly a teetotaler after seeing the effects of alcoholism on his favorite uncle. Joe Biden has reportedly lived with the same uncle as a child.

The president had also earlier accused a truck driver of being drunk during the 1972 accident that killed his first wife and daughter. However, the driver was not charged with DUI, and police found no evidence of drunk driving.

Texts on the laptop that Hunter Biden lost showed one of the rehab centers that he attended and revealed that his father had spent $45,000 on a ten-day rehab stay for Hallie.

Hallie was Beau's widow, who eventually became Hunter Biden's lover. Texts from Ashley revealed that she referred to Hallie as "the most selfish, self-absorbed, and idiotic woman" that she knows.

Ashley was arrested in 1999 for possession of marijuana. At the time, she was a Tulane University student in New Orleans and was released on a $1,000 bond.

The local district attorney had also declined to prosecute the case. Meanwhile, Joe Biden's brother, Frank, has had multiple alcohol-related driving offenses.

A judge ordered him to attend rehab for three months after a 2004 arrest. Frank was arrested after driving with a suspended license.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Biden Emotionally Speaks About Being Proud Of Son Hunter Overcoming' Drug Problem' - From NBC News