Reading Time: 2 minutes

Anyone who’s ever watched a loved one battle substance abuse knows how that struggle can impact an entire family.

And it seems that that’s true even in the world’s most powerful families.

Hunter Biden opened up this week about one of the strangest chapters of his battle with addiction — and it involves his father showing up at his drug-filled Washington, D.C., home.

During a recent appearance on the “Dopey” podcast, Hunter recalled two occasions when Joe Biden, who was serving as vice president at the time, personally visited him while he was deep in the throes of addiction.

Needless to say, these weren’t exactly low-key father-son pop-ins.

Hunter said he would notice several SUVs arriving outside his home before realizing that his father had come to check on him. The Secret Service presence was difficult to miss, even with a reduced motorcade.

“My dad showed up. He literally showed up at the house twice,” Hunter recalled.

According to Hunter, Joe would then walk up to the door and knock.

Hunter said his father was trying to figure out what was going on with his son and what, exactly, he planned to do next.

“Please, like, what are we gonna do tomorrow? What’s the plan?” Hunter recalled his father asking.

Hunter apparently had an answer — or at least something that sounded like one at the time.

He said he would assure Joe that he had a plan.

The problem, of course, was that Hunter’s addiction wasn’t exactly interested in sticking to the plan.

The former first son has been remarkably candid in recent years about his struggles with drugs and alcohol, including periods when his life became increasingly chaotic.

He has since embraced sobriety and spoken openly about the people who helped him survive what he has described as some of the darkest periods of his life.

His latest story, however, offers a particularly unusual glimpse into what Joe Biden was dealing with behind closed doors while simultaneously serving as Barack Obama’s vice president.

Hunter wasn’t describing a polished political family photo-op. He was describing his father showing up at his home, knocking on the door, and attempting to figure out how to help his struggling son.

And while Hunter may have had plenty of complicated feelings about his father over the years, these particular memories appear to underscore one thing: Joe Biden kept showing up.

Even when the circumstances were anything but normal.

Hunter’s addiction has been the subject of relentless political scrutiny, but his more recent willingness to discuss his recovery has provided a much more personal look at what was happening behind the headlines.

This time, the headline is pretty wild all by itself: The vice president once showed up at his son’s drug den to ask what the plan was.

Thankfully, the plan eventually involved getting sober.