After years of refusing to acknowledge her existence, President Joe Biden on Friday finally issued a statement to People regarding his son Hunter's out-of-wedlock daughter, Navy Joan Roberts, but the claim that he and Jill Biden “only want what's best” for the girl stands in stark contrast to his and the first lady's prior conduct.

Navy Joan, now four years old, was born as the result of an affair between Hunter Biden and Arkansas-based Lunden Roberts, and despite DNA confirmation of her paternity, she has long been denied what some might view as the perks of being a grandchild of the president of the United States, despite repeated calls for the first family to embrace the girl as one of their own.

Bidens change course

Late on Friday afternoon it was announced that President Biden had given a statement to People regarding Navy Joan Roberts, which marked the first instance in which he claimed her as one of his grandchildren.

“Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward,” Biden said.

The president continued, “This is not a political issue, it's a family matter.”

It was then that Biden implied that his wife was also on board with the new stance on Miss Roberts, saying, “Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy.”

Actions speak louder than words

Many believe that Biden's Friday statement came primarily as the result of growing criticism – even from some on the left – of the callous treatment to which Navy Joan had been subjected, and indeed, the first couple's actions in recent years have only bolstered that cynicism.

For instance, as the New York Post reported at the time, during the festive season back in 2021, the first lady proudly displayed Christmas stockings at the White House bearing the names of her six acknowledged grandchildren – decorations that blatantly omitted Navy Joan – as well as of Biden family pets.

The president himself has made conscious efforts in the past to steer clear of acknowledging Hunter Biden's love child, reportedly insisting that White House staffers publicly refer only to six grandchildren, not seven.

Taken together, the Bidens' conduct as it relates to Navy Joan could ultimately cause irreparable harm to the girl, as Fox News noted, citing clinical psychologist Dr. Staci Weiner, who opined, “If a birth parent or family member does not respond to, or denies, their child's existence, this can trigger feelings of abandonment and grief.”

Skepticism persists

Though the dam finally broke in terms of the first family's willingness to admit that Navy Joan exists and is their blood relation, not everyone is convinced that a real change of heart has taken place or that the president's motives were as pure as he would like the country to believe.

As Fox News noted separately, a popular podcast host who goes by the handle “Comfortably Smug” declared, “Hahahahahah. The baby is a Friday night news dump for Joe Biden.”

Media critic Steve Krakauer added, “Always classy when you summer Friday night news dump an acknowledgment of your grandchild.”

Commentator Katie Pavlich summed up the sentiments of many on the subject when she said, “Joe and Jill Biden's rejection of their granddaughter for four years, while refusing to tell Hunter to grow up and take responsibility for his daughter, and now issuing an acknowledgment in People Magazine to get good PR says so much about who they are. Absolutely disgusting.”