President Joe Biden’s team has crafted a careful image designed to positively contrast him with Donald Trump . The intent is to present Trump as loud, brash, and unrepentant, and Biden as the commander-in-chief of empathy and compassion. That image is now at risk of coming completely undone.

Enter the person of Navy Joan Roberts, Hunter Biden’s daughter, confirmed by DNA test in 2019. Navy was the subject of a paternity and child support case, which Hunter Biden fought until agreeing to an undisclosed settlement last week. Why did Hunter think this defining rejection of parental responsibility was OK? Why did he fight so long to avoid it?

Another question must also be asked here. Namely, why the President continues to refuse to acknowledge Navy's very existence. Biden repeatedly states that he has six grandkids, a blatant factual inaccuracy that has gone repeatedly unchecked by the media. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was finally asked about this by the New York Times on Wednesday. She refused to answer the question.

Although it appears most of the media is following White House orders not to address this topic directly with the president, it’s not one he can ignore forever. Indeed, it could become a legitimate issue in the 2024 presidential election. Why?

Well, because it's hard to run on an image of empathy while refusing the very existence of your own grandchild. It’s even harder to make a case, as Biden has on several occasions, that the children of America are "all our children" when he rejects the notion his own blood kin is not his own blood kin. The elder Biden simply refuses to acknowledge Navy's existence. Per the New York Times, Biden agrees with the recommendation of political advisers that he simply  ignore her. He could overrule those advisers in the name of decency if he wanted to. He doesn't.

Biden has yet to answer any questions directly on the now 4-year-old girl, who, again according to the New York Times, is aware that her grandfather is the president and his son her father. She has never met either man.

It's hard to imagine Biden getting this free pass were the situation to apply to the former president. The public certainly notices the double standard, both as a political matter and as it pertains to the compassion and empathy question. In turn, this will become a campaign issue for Joe Biden. Rightly so.

Stephen L. Miller ( @redsteeze ) has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and hosts the Versus Media podcast.