Jill Biden Misstates Number of Grandchildren She and Joe Have

Dr. Jill Biden, the former second lady of the United States, misstated the number of grandchildren she has with her husband, Joe, during a virtual town hall over the weekend.

The Bidens, who have been sequestered in Delaware since mid-March because of the Coronavirus, hosted a live stream discussion on how families could adjust to life amid the pandemic. During the introductory portion of the town hall, Jill Biden elaborated on the precautions her own family was taking.

“We have three children, and we have six grandchildren,” the former second lady said, with her husband adding their grandchildren ranged from “seniors in law school to little infants.”

The number, though, is inaccurate. The Bidens, in fact, have seven grandchildren in total. Two are from their late-son Beau’s marriage to Hallie Olivere, while five are from their son Hunter’s various relationships. The latter’s youngest offspring are likely the “little infants,” Joe Biden invoked during the town hall.

The fifth of Hunter’s children, a boy, was born on March 28 to Melissa Cohen, a South African filmmaker. The couple, who reside in a $12,000-per-month rental in the Hollywood hills, wed in May 2019 after knowing each other for less than a week.

Hunter, whose work in Ukraine was central to the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, also has a 18-month-old child with Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas native and one-time stripper. The child’s existence was revealed last year when Roberts filed a paternity suit against Hunter in Arkansas civil court. The lawsuit, which came around the same time as Hunter’s marriage to Cohen, quickly made headlines after it emerged that Roberts had gotten to know the younger Biden while working at a Washington, D.C.-based gentleman’s club.

Although he initially denied paternity, a DNA test proved that Hunter was the child’s father. After that major revelation, the lawsuit was settled, with Hunter agreeing to pay a monthly undisclosed amount for child support, as well as providing healthcare for the baby.

It is unclear exactly which of these two children Jill Biden seems to have overlooked on Sunday. It is not, however, the first time one of the Bidens has failed recognize all of Hunter’s offspring. Last year, when Hunter’s lovechild with Roberts was first confirmed via DNA, the former vice president refused to discuss the child, choosing instead to mock a reporter for broaching the topic.

Since then, neither Joe Biden or his wife have commented on or acknowledged Roberts and the child. This was exhibited as most recently as March 27—one day before Hunter’s child with Cohen was born—when the former vice president took part in a CNN town hall on the Coronavirus.

“Every single day I speak to all five of my grandkids,” Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper when discussing how he, himself, was dealing the national quarantine. “Either on the phone or I text with them.”