ASHLEY Biden is set to introduce her father, President Joe Biden, on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention.
Like her older brother, Hunter Biden, Ashley has faced her share of addiction issues, complicating her father’s 2020 presidential campaign and leaving some of Biden’s top aides wondering whether he should have run for office at all.
Joe Biden has four children from two marriages, though only two – Hunter Biden and Ashley Blazer Biden– are still alive today.
Ashley was born on June 8, 1981, the only daughter and child of Joe Biden and his second wife, First Lady Jill Biden.
She graduated from Tulane University with a degree in cultural anthropology.
She then pursued a career in social work, before obtaining a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010.
Ashley served as a social worker for the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families for 15 years.
In 2012, she became the associate director of the Delaware Centre for Justice.
She eventually became the executive director, focusing on criminal justice reform in the state, until 2019.
The decision came just a few years after Ashley launched Livelihood in 2017, an ethical fashion company whose profits go towards combatting income and racial inequality in the US.
However, Ashley’s decision to leave her prestigious position didn’t come as a result of her pivot to fashion, nor was it due to her father’s 2020 presidential bid.
It came as she was struggling with addiction.
ASHLEY’S ADDICTIONS
During the first half of 2019, including when Joe Biden first announced his candidacy for president on April 25, 2019, Ashley was in an out-patient rehab in Florida.
Despite seeking help for her addiction issues, she was also occasionally relapsing during those first few months of 2019.
Joe Biden’s top aides have wondered whether the president’s tumultuous family drama, including his adult children’s struggles with addiction, would have played out had he won the presidential race – or whether he had run at all.
Despite Biden’s family and friends encouraging him to run for office, it’s likely that his decision to run thrust them even further into the national spotlight, and allowed their lives to become subject to public fodder.
Democratic National Committee Day One
Here's what to expect from Monday's DNC events:
The main program for day one begins at 5:30 pm at the Chicago United Centerand is expected to run until 10 pm.
- President Joe Biden will speak on the first night of the conference but the exact time of his speech is not yet known.
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also expected to speak Monday.
9 – 10 am– Annenberg Roundtable: Fake Videos and Election Cybersecurity in the Age of AI.
- This event will be held at the Hilton Chicago.
- The discussion will focus on how to keep elections safe in an age of AI and disinformation.
10:30 am – 12 pm– Illinois OG’s for Kamala
- The original Illinois 2020 Delegates for Harris are hosting a champagne brunch.
8 pm– MWxSW (Midwest v Southwest): A Party for the Tipping Point States
- Wisconsin and Arizona will be the nation’s top battleground states for control of the presidency and US Senate.
- They are hosting a joint party to unify Democrats.
- Comedian Roy Wood Jr is hosting a concert, featuring artists from Wisconsin and Arizona like Jimmy Eat World
9:30 pm– Equality PAC Late Night Party
- Party featuring performances from drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race
10:30 pm– Southern Soul Party at PRYSM nightclub
- There will be a DJ set from Lil Jon.
- The event is being hosted by the Democratic Party of Georgia.
Ashley confirmed that a recovery diary, which was stolen and given to a right-wing news source, was hers during a trial in which the woman who sold the diary was convicted, as reported by Axios.
The woman who stole and sold Ashley’s recovery diary, Aimee Harris, was sentenced to one month in prison, three months of house arrest, and three years of probation.
She pled guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, admitting that she received $20,000 from Project Veritas in exchange for Ashley’s personal belongings.
“I will forever have to deal with the fact that my personal journal can be viewed online,” Ashley wrote in a letter to the trial’s judge.
“The despair I have often felt will never truly go away,” she continued, adding that she was a “private citizen, targeted only because my father happened to be running to be president.”
Ashley’s last public relapse occurred in July 2019, just days before Biden was set to take the stage in a debate amongst other potential candidates hoping to secure the Democratic nomination.
CAMPAIGN TRAIL TRAUMA
Joe Biden’s aides, though reportedly unaware of the extent of the situations at hand, could tell that his family was struggling during the 2020 campaign, per Axios.
They also recalled that Biden himself could be greatly affected by those struggles.
Aides reported his shifting moods during the campaign trail and knew how to “tiptoe around him” after a particularly “bad” phone call or press inquiry.
According to a select few aides, Biden would often become “angry or distracted about the legal and political attacks” on Ashley and Hunter.
His decision to bring along his grandchildren on the campaign trail – who were rarely, if ever, accompanied by their adult parents – also left aides questioning whether Biden could mentally or emotionally cope with his family’s trauma.
Still, Biden persevered and ended up beating former President Donald Trump to become the nation’s 46th president.
Biden’s most recent campaign run, however, came to an end on July 21, when he announced that he would be ending his re-election campaign.
“While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter posted on X.
Just days later, Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office with his family by his side, as reported by Barrons.
Jill and Ashley Biden were seen holding hands while Hunter and several of Biden’s grandchildren sat nearby, watching his address.
Biden’s family was also by his side when he endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to take on Donald Trump in the 2024 race.
Harris secured the nomination in a historic online vote earlier this month.
This week, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will be formally nominated as the Democratic nominees for President and Vice President at the Democratic National Convention.
Ashley is set to introduce her father– alongside her mother, First Lady Jill Biden – during the first night of the 2024 DNC on Monday, August 19.
