By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden added a new title on Wednesday: great-grandfather.
His granddaughter, Naomi Biden Neal, gave birth to her first child, a boy, with husband Peter Neal at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The baby’s name is William Brannon Neal IV, according to an Instagram post from the first lady that included a photo of her and the president with their new great-grandson.
Biden, who was in Los Angeles and saw the baby at the hospital, announced the birth at the end of an official briefing on wildfires in Southern California.
“The good news is I’m a great-grandfather as of today,” Biden said.
Biden and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, spent about 40 minutes visiting Naomi and the baby, the White House said. Biden had told USA Today in an interview published Wednesday that she was having a caesarian section that day.
The president and first lady arrived in Los Angeles late Monday after visiting New Orleans to mourn with the community after the deadly New Year’s Day vehicle attack in the French Quarter. The president had an event scheduled Tuesday in California, but his announcement of new national monuments was postponed because of the wildfires.
Naomi Biden, 31, is the eldest daughter of Hunter Biden and his former wife, Kathleen Buhle. Hunter Biden, now a grandfather, has four other children, including a 4-year-old son, Beau, who is now an uncle.
With the new addition, Joe Biden, 82, is believed to be the first sitting president to become a great-grandfather while in office.
Naomi Biden and Peter Neal were married in November 2022 during an elaborate White House ceremony that was the first involving a president’s granddaughter and the first held outdoors on the South Lawn.
She announced her pregnancy on Election Day, Nov. 5, with an Instagram selfie of her baby bump captioned, “We Voted.”
Superville reported from Washington. Former AP News Researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
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