Former President Joe Biden took a number of potshots at President Donald Trump addressing the National Bar Association's100th annual gala at the Hyatt in Chicago Thursday evening, saying his successor's administration is engaged in an "existential" fight with minority communities.
"Not since those tumultuous days in 1960s has this fight been so existential to who we are as a nation, with marginalized groups so dramatically under attack," said Biden, who spoke before being presented with the organization's C. Francis Stradford Award, named for a co-founder of the historically Black legal association.
"My friends, we need to face the hard truth of this administration, and that it has been to ease all the gains we've made in my administration," Biden went on. "To erase history rather than making it. To erase fairness, equality, to erase justice itself. And that's not hyperbole. That's a fact."
The former president's address comes two months after his son Hunter agreed to a voluntary disbarment stemming from drug use and alleged gun law violations.
HUNTER BIDEN RAGES AGAINST ‘F---ING THUG’ TRUMP, INVOKES KKK IN IMMIGRATION RANT
Among the gala's other featured speakers are a host of high-profile Black lawyers, including far-left Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, MSNBC pundit Joy-Ann Reid and New York Attorney General Tish James.
"President Biden’s life and leadership reflect an unwavering commitment to the rule of law and the promise of justice for all," National Bar Association president Wiley Adams said in a statement.
"[I]t is not only historic but also deeply meaningful to have the 46th President of the United States join us in honoring the transformative power of the law—and the enduring fight to protect our democracy," he said.
The organization, now based in Washington, D.C., was formed in Iowa at a time when the predominant American Bar Association barred Black attorneys from joining its ranks.
Its approximately 66,000 members advocate for civil rights, diversity in the legal profession as well as equitable access to the law.
The National Bar Association said Biden’s appearance "underscores his ongoing efforts to strengthen the rule of law, defend voting rights, and support historically marginalized communities."
Then-Vice President-elect, Joe Biden, stands with his son, Hunter Biden, during a re-enactment of the Senate oath ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
The president will take the stage the same month his son has made waves in the public eye.
Earlier in July, Hunter Biden sat for a marathon interview from the Delaware Valley, in which he attacked President Donald Trump and many top Democratic figures, including David Axelrod, and spoke about his former addiction to crack cocaine.
In a case that occurred in the same area where the interview took place, a gun registered to Hunter Biden had been found in a dumpster a short distance from the A.I. duPont school in Greenville, Del.
Hallie Biden, widow of former Delaware Attorney General Joseph Beau Biden III and then-girlfriend of Hunter Biden, discovered the gun in her boyfriend’s possession and disposed of it there.
Edward Banner of Newport, Del., had been rummaging through the dumpster for bottle deposits to cash-in and discovered the gun. He was later called to testify in the case.
During the registration of that weapon, Hunter Biden swore on a federal form that he was not actively using controlled substances – a declaration that led to a criminal case in Wilmington that eventually led to his disbarment.
In June 2024, District of Columbia Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby signed an order automatically suspending his license to practice law in Washington.
Hunter Biden filed a sealed affidavit in April consenting to his disbarment, which avoided a court hearing on the matter.
Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report.