It’s been a few days since Joe Biden posted a family photo to X. By now, the jokes have been made, the memes have circulated, and the discourse has moved on to whatever’s next.
“Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Christmas Eve filled with love,” Biden wrote. The image showed seven members of his family gathered in front of a decorated Christmas tree. Hunter Biden and his adult daughter Maisy stood front and center. Jill Biden smiled beside them. Ashley Biden, Hunter’s wife Melissa Cohen, and two grandchildren filled out the frame.
And somewhere in the back, partially obscured by his wife’s head, was Joe Biden himself.
The internet had thoughts. And the comments that gained the most traction — measured in views, likes, and reposts — told a story of their own.
“Took me a while to find ya, champ,” wrote @lamps_apple, posting a zoomed-in crop of Biden’s half-visible face. The post drew 246,000 views.
“Where’s Joe?” asked @GuntherEagleman, drawing 122,000 views. Others went further: “They’re already leaving Joe out of the family picture and he ain’t even dead yet. Bless,” wrote @__my__at, earning 117,000 views.
The composition sparked a cascade of jokes and jabs. “Hunter is the alpha now,” wrote @AutismCapital, with 203,000 views. “Now we know Jill was calling the shots,” added @longhorncapital, at 69,000 views. One user, @apinionsvary, posted an Addams Family GIF with the caption: “Getting these kind of vibes.”
Some questioned whether Biden had even written the caption. “Did the Autopen sign this greeting,” asked @Chicago1Ray, drawing 89,000 views — a reference to the controversy over Biden’s use of the signature machine during his presidency. Another, @3YearLetterman, simply called him the wrong name: “Joel you look incredible.” That one pulled 109,000 views.
Not everyone piled on. “Merry Christmas to you and your family. We miss you,” wrote @EdKrassen, whose post drew 2,700 likes and 145,000 views. “Merry Christmas to the whole Biden family!” added @harryjsisson, with 114,000 views.
But amid the mockery and the well-wishes, one comment cut deeper than the rest.
“Where’s Hunter’s daughter, Navy??” asked @tomselliott, drawing 28,000 views.
Navy Joan Roberts is Hunter Biden’s four-year-old daughter with Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas woman he had a relationship with while struggling with addiction. Hunter initially denied paternity and fought the case in court before DNA testing confirmed he was the father. For years, Joe Biden declined to publicly acknowledge Navy as a grandchild — the White House even displayed Christmas stockings for only six grandchildren, not seven. Biden finally acknowledged her in 2023, after sustained public pressure.
She wasn’t in the photo.
There may be an innocent explanation. Maybe Navy spent Christmas with her mother’s family. Maybe the photo was taken before she arrived, or after she left. The Bidens haven’t commented on the image or its composition.
But the absence was noticed. And in a photo already being dissected for what it said about the Biden family’s dynamics — who’s visible, who’s hidden, who’s front and center — the missing grandchild added another layer.
Maybe the photo was just a badly framed snapshot. Maybe someone’s thumb was covering the viewfinder. Maybe Joe Biden stepped back at the wrong moment, or Jill shifted forward at the right one.
Or maybe the image captured something people had already decided was true: a president fading from view, a controversial son claiming the spotlight, and a family still navigating the fault lines that defined the last four years.
Either way, people saw what they wanted to see.
