Joe Biden is a father consumed with his son’s legal problems. That’s troubling news for Americans already worried that the president is not up to doing his job.

Biden is running for re-election and his staffers are worried about the optics of Hunter Biden being attached at the hip to his father, given the recent deal announced that will keep him out of prison. And there is the settlement with the mother of his four-year-old daughter that was submitted to the court for approval this week. It brought lots of headlines, too. Deals all over the place for Hunter Biden, a very special human being, apparently. Any other American would be serving time for what he’s been found guilty of – especially on the charge of lying on a federal form to purchase a gun.

Naturally, when Hunter and his wife showed up for the state dinner held for Indian Prime Minister Modi, so quickly after the plea deal in Delaware was announced, the wisdom of that invitation was called into question. Should Hunter be so conspicuous at his father’s White House events? Under normal circumstances, no. The disgraced criminal child of a sitting president would be kept out of sight from the public. But, this is Hunter Biden and we are being told that his daddy is keeping him close to him because Joe is afraid Hunter will relapse and go back to using drugs.

And, off Hunter went to Camp David last weekend with Joe. No doubt he’ll go again when Joe leaves the White House for Camp David this afternoon for the holiday weekend.

It’s all making sense now. Joe thinks he can keep his troubled son off drugs if he keeps him nearby. That’s not how addiction works but it may be what Joe Biden thinks. Joe Biden looks like he isn’t doing too well in taking care of himself so I don’t know how much good he’s doing for Hunter but he’s keeping him busy. Do you wonder if Hunter was making deals during that state dinner by using his father’s position, as he has done in the past? I did.

Biden is telling his staff that he won’t listen to their suggestions that having Hunter so close to him brings unwanted press attention. He’s going to do this his way. Staffers are concerned that the pictures and videos will draw attacks from Trump, who will likely face him in the 2024 election, as things stand now.

Behind-the-scenes, aides have tried to delicately tell the president that the optics of keeping Hunter at his side amid the first son’s legal drama may not help him win reelection, especially against former President Donald Trump.

Biden can fall back on the attentive dad routine. Things took a serious twist this week when a text message on WhatsApp showed an alleged direct reference that Hunter was making pay-for-play deals with a Chinese Communist Party official – Henry Zhao. When Republicans took back the majority in the House, they opened investigations into probing the corrupt Biden family “influence peddling.”

Hunter is the central figure in those investigations, as Republicans are hoping sources come forward to tie his foreign business deals – which were happening during his period of addiction, Hunter’s lawyer recently noted – to the president, who has long denied involvement.

A WhatsApp message from Hunter to a Chinese business associate provided to Republican by an IRS whistleblower caused the White House headaches, as it purported to show Hunter using his father’s clout to get paid.

In a July 2017 message to Communist Party official Henry Zhao, Hunter said I’m ‘sitting with my father,’ adding, ‘and we would like to know why the commitment made was not fulfilled.’

Staffers say he is all-consumed with Hunter’s troubles and he told his staff, “Hands off my family.” After Biden has reportedly angrily responded to concerns from those around him, they have given up.

Now aides have given up trying, with one source saying, ‘it is what it is, and we’re dealing with it.’

The push-and-pull bubbled up to the surface earlier this week, when former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the optics of Hunter being at the state dinner – especially with Attorney General Merrick Garland – were ‘absolutely not’ good.

Deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton, who was leading her first press briefing Tuesday, was asked about that comment by Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich.

‘Like every other administration, like every other president, this president has a family, and he did exactly what many prior administrations have done. And beyond that, I really don’t have any comment on this,’ she said.

Those investigations are also exposing The Big Guy (Joe Biden) and his role in the Biden crime family. The legacy press has no interest in these investigations, though, and will likely continue to give the Bidens a pass. There’s nothing to see here, why do you ask?

The additional stress of trying to keep an eye on Hunter will not be good for the 80-year-old president who is already failing because of the onset of dementia. No one wants to hear that Joe Biden is “consumed” with Hunter’s problems when the old man is barely keeping it together himself. His day job is rather important, after all. No one faults Biden for professing his love for his son.

Look for Democrats to rally around Joe and run interference against the poor optics of Hunter tagging along with his father on the campaign trail.

Here’s a thought – what if Joe Biden realizes that he isn’t up to being president and steps aside, using Hunter as his excuse? Would Jill let that happen? I don’t know that either of their egos would allow that kind of concession but that would make things pretty interesting on the Democrat side of the 2024 presidential election.