Jill Biden goes to France for UN event as Hunter went to court
C’est la vie, mon fils.
First lady Jill Biden escaped to France to mark US re-entry into a United Nations cultural agency this week, while her stepson Hunter’s federal plea deal for tax and gun crimes imploded spectacularly in a Delaware court.
The 72-year-old — whom Hunter once called an “entitled c–t” in text messages found on his abandoned laptop — grinned and shook hands with officials in Paris during a Tuesday flag-raising to re-establish American ties with the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) and counter the growing influence of China in international bodies.
“I was honored to join you today as we raise the flag of the United States, the symbol of our commitment to global collaboration and peace,” Jill Biden said during her remarks, echoing President Biden’s promise to “restore US leadership on the world stage.”
“We are so proud to rejoin UNESCO,” she added.
The first lady was joined at UNESCO headquarters by Director-General Audrey Azoulay, who said the agency was going to put “the star-spangled banner back where it belongs.”
First lady Jill Biden escaped to France on Tuesday to mark US re-entry into a United Nations cultural agency. Jean-Marc David/SIPA/Shutterstock
“I was honored to join you today as we raise the flag of the United States, the symbol of our commitment to global collaboration and peace,” Jill Biden said. AFP via Getty Images
“In the time of divisions, rifts and existential threats, we reaffirm our union here today,” Azoulay said, referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while the US national anthem played and attendees applauded. “Together we will be stronger.”
The Biden administration announced in June it would rejoin UNESCO as its 194th member after the Trump administration left the body in 2017.
The agency in the preceding years had drafted resolutions critical of Israel that referred to the Jewish state as an “occupying power” over Palestinian territories.
Jill also toured the Brittany American Cemetery on Wednesday to honor US soldiers who died serving in World War II. AFP via Getty Images
In 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down an invitation to speak at one of its events, citing the organization’s “persistent and egregious bias against Israel.” His nation left UNESCO shortly after and has not rejoined.
Israel and the US began withholding funding to UNESCO in 2011 after the Palestinian territories became one of its members.
The Biden administration has pledged $150 million toward UNESCO’s 2024 budget and an additional $619 million in the coming years to recoup losses incurred since US funding was pulled.
First daughter Ashley Biden, 42, also accompanied Jill to the Elysée Palace on Tuesday before the flag-raising and posed for pictures with French first lady Brigitte Macron. AFP via Getty Images
First daughter Ashley Biden, 42, also accompanied Jill to the Elysée Palace before Tuesday’s flag-raising and posed for pictures with French first lady Brigitte Macron, with the ensemble sporting their respective national colors of red, white and blue.
On Wednesday, Jill Biden toured the Brittany American Cemetery to honor US soldiers who died serving in World War II — and finished her trip with a stop at Mont-Saint-Michel, the striking Benedictine abbey and UNESCO world heritage site, which is situated on a tidal island off northwestern France.
Hunter Biden, 53, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay income taxes and a felony weapons charge after talks broke down between prosecutors and his defense team over a previously announced plea agreement that would have let the first son skate on probation.
She finished her trip with a stop at Mont-Saint-Michel, the striking Benedictine abbey and UNESCO world heritage site, which is situated on a tidal island. AFP via Getty Images
Hunter Biden, 53, pleaded not guilty to federal tax and gun charges on Wednesday in a surprise move. Daniel William McKnight for NY Post
The scandal-hit first son has strained relations with his stepmom and has ripped her in family text messages as both a “vindictive moron” and “entitled c–t.”
“F–k my stepmother for always being as much of a selfish silly entitled c–t as you,” Hunter wrote in 2018 to his sister-in-law-turned-lover Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter’s brother Beau Biden.
With Post wires
Source: New York Post
