Hunter Biden is a new dad.
But this time around, he might not be all that happy about it.
A judge ruled on Tuesday that the 49-year-old son of former Vice President Joe Biden is the father of a 17-month-old he sired with an ex-stripper. Biden has repeatedly denied he was the father.
Judge Holly Meyer officially deemed Biden “the biological and legal father” of Lunden Alexis Roberts’ baby, born in August 2018, and ordered that a new birth certificate be issued.
“The Arkansas Department of Health shall issue a new or substituted birth certificate listing Lunden Alexis Roberts as the mother and Robert Hunter Biden as the father,” Meyer wrote in her order, filed Tuesday in Independence County Circuit Court.
DNA test results showed “with near scientific certainty” that Biden is the father of the child, Meyer wrote.
Biden at first denied he was the father of the baby, who was previously referred to as “Baby Doe” in court papers. Biden met Lunden Roberts, 28, while she worked as a stripper in Washington, D.C. Biden at the time was dating Halle Biden, 45, widow of his brother Beau, when Roberts became pregnant. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015.
In earlier court filings, Roberts said Biden “had no involvement in the child’s life since the child’s birth, never interacted with the child, never parented the child,” and “could not identify the child out of a photo lineup.”
The judge on Tuesday also awarded to the mother “primary physical and legal custody” of the child, adding that Biden “shall have visitation with the child as agreed between the parties.”
Biden is expecting his fifth child with his new wife, Melissa Cohen Bide, 32. He has three grown children with former wife, Kathleen Buhle.
There’s much more ahead. On Jan. 29, the court will address “temporary child support for the minor child and other matters,” the judge wrote. Another hearing is set for March 13 to hash out other issues, with a final hearing on May 13 to establish “permanent child support for the minor child.”
DNA testing released in November proved Biden is the father of the child.
The younger Biden’s paternity of a stripper’s child had plagued his father’s campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Joe Biden clashed with a Fox News reporter in November who asked if he had “a comment on this report, and court filing, out of Arkansas, that your son Hunter just made you a grandfather again.”
“No, that’s a private matter and I have no comment,” Biden fired back before attacking the reporter.
“Only you would ask that,” Biden said to Fox News’ Steve Doocy. “You’re a good man. You’re a good man. Classy.”
The New York Post in November reported that Biden was “suspected of smoking crack inside a strip club where he dropped ‘thousands of dollars’ during multiple visits.”
“The incident, which took place at Archibald’s Gentlemen’s Club in Washington, DC, late last year, represents the most recent alleged drug use by Biden, 49, who has acknowledged six stints in rehab for alcoholism and addiction that included a crack binge in 2016,” the Post reported. “Workers at Archibald’s, located about three blocks north of the White House, said Biden was a regular there, with two bartenders and a security worker all instantly recognizing his photo and one worker identifying him by name.”