President Joe Biden welcomed his first great-grandchild in California on Wednesday after his granddaughter Naomi Biden gave birth.
“The good news is I’m a great-grandfather as of today,” Biden told reporters after California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials briefed him on their efforts to fight the wildfires raging throughout Los Angeles County.
Biden said his granddaughter gave birth to "a 10-pound, 4-ounce baby girl" before he quickly corrected himself to say "baby boy." Biden is the first modern president to have a great-grandchild born while in office.
First lady Jill Biden shared a photo of herself and the president holding their great-grandson on Instagram later Wednesday with the caption "We are proud to introduce you to our great-grandson: William Brannon Neal, IV."
The newborn's name appeared to honor his father's brother, Willie Neal, who died over 15 years ago at age 19 after a car accident in Maine.
In a recent interview with USA Today, Biden spoke about his great-grandchild's impending birth, saying: "I’m about to be a great-grandfather, Jesus God. But Naomi ... I’m going out to California. She’s due to have a cesarean on the 8th of January."
"God willing," he added.
The birth of Biden's great-grandchild comes just over two years after the president and the first lady hosted Naomi Biden's wedding to Peter Neal at the White House.
At the time, the bride told Vogue about her close relationship with her grandparents, saying it "hasn't changed much" since her grandfather became president.
“When I was in middle school, we lived so close, and they were at every sports game and our school plays. We still do the same things. It’s always been this way," she added.
Naomi Biden is the daughter of Hunter Biden and his first wife, Kathleen Buhle. Hunter Biden, the son of the president's first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, who died in a car accident when he was a little boy, has often grabbed headlines over the last four years as he faced federal charges and scrutiny over his addictions.
In December, the president announced that he was granting Hunter Biden a pardon just days before he was set to be sentenced in two separate cases — for a conviction on federal gun charges and for a guilty plea on federal tax evasion charges.
On Wednesday, the president, the first lady and Hunter Biden visited Naomi Biden at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles before the fire briefing. Hunter Biden was accompanied by his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and his young son, Beau Jr., who is named after his late brother, the president's eldest son.
