Hunter Biden’s bitterness toward Barack Obama has been simmering for years, but a new book reveals just how deep it runs. In an excerpt from Jonathan Karl’s upcoming book “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign that Changed America,” Hunter opened up about the moment that pushed him to the edge.

The scene took place at a Los Angeles fundraiser in the summer of 2024. President Joe Biden had appeared alongside comedian Jimmy Kimmel, and after his remarks, he froze on stage, unsure where to go. Cameras rolled as former President Barack Obama took Biden by the hand and led him offstage — a moment that instantly went viral.

According to Hunter, that image made his blood boil.

“I knew that that was going to be a meme,” he said in the book. “That really, really, really, really pissed me off.”

Hunter said he was so angry that he almost stormed the stage to confront Obama directly.

“I almost jumped up on the stage and said, ‘Don’t ever f***ing do that to the president of the United States again — ever,’” Hunter said.

The fundraiser took place just weeks before Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, a night that effectively ended his political career. During the debate, Biden stumbled through rambling answers and at one point concluded a wandering statement by saying, “We finally beat Medicare.”

Trump seized the moment with a quick response that summed up what millions of viewers were thinking.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence, and I don’t think he knows what he said either,” Trump said.

That debate exposed everything Democrats and the media had worked for years to hide — the visible signs of Biden’s cognitive decline. NBC News even admitted afterward that Biden’s performance was “at times … meandering, incoherent and difficult to hear.”

Hunter later tried to defend his father’s performance, blaming exhaustion and medication.

“I’ll tell you what, I know exactly what happened in that debate,” Hunter told interviewer Andrew Callaghan. “He flew around the world basically, and the mileage that he could have flown around the world three times. He’s 81 years old.”

“He’s tired as s***. They give him Ambien to be able to sleep,” Hunter continued. “He gets up on the stage and he looks like he’s a deer in the headlights.”

In the same book, Hunter suggested that the Ambien might have played a role in his father’s slow reactions during the debate. He described how Biden’s schedule left him drained and unable to perform at his best, but critics say the problem went far beyond fatigue.

As Joe Biden’s mental lapses became more obvious, reports surfaced that his staff used neon tape on the floor at events to guide his movements. According to another book titled “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House” by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, handlers regularly used the tape to direct him where to stand and when to exit.

The irony of Hunter’s outburst toward Obama hasn’t been lost on observers. While Hunter was furious that Obama helped his father off the stage, everyone around the president already knew that kind of assistance had become a routine part of his public appearances.

Hunter’s anger, however, revealed more than frustration — it showed the long-standing rift between the Bidens and the Obamas, a divide that dates back to the former president’s infamous warning years ago: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f*** things up.”

Now, that tension appears to have come full circle. The image of Barack Obama leading Joe Biden offstage may have embarrassed the president’s son, but it also symbolized something deeper — a quiet acknowledgment from Obama himself that the man once called his closest ally was no longer in control.