Hunter Biden now says that American democracy itself depends on his sobriety and ability to fight back against Republican attacks. 

In an interview with Axios’ Alex Thompson, the first son detailed his struggles with addiction and recovery. He says that the GOP has deployed dishonest attacks so that he may relapse, causing his father even greater embarrassment.

“Most importantly, you have to believe that you’re worth the work, or you’ll never be able to get sober. But I often do think of the profound consequences of failure here,” Mr. Biden says in his interview. “Maybe it’s the ultimate test for a recovering addict, I don’t know. I have always been in awe of people who have stayed clean and sober through tragedies and obstacles few people ever face. They are my heroes, my inspiration.”

The prospect of relapsing as his father runs for reelection weighs heavily on Mr. Biden, he says. President Trump is already leading in many general election polls, so any sort of sordid tales coming from the White House or the Biden family could further endanger American democracy, he says.

“I have something much bigger than even myself at stake,” he says. “We are in the middle of a fight for the future of democracy.”

Mr. Biden will sit for a deposition before House impeachment investigators on Wednesday. He long resisted appearing in a private setting, with his lawyer saying that the Republicans have run a “cloaked, one-sided process.”

This isn’t the first time Mr. Biden has accused Republicans of launching dishonest attacks against him and his family in the hopes of getting him to relapse. 

In November, he published an opinion piece in USA Today, describing himself as a proud addict in recovery, and described attacks on him as attacks on the millions of American families in a life-or-death struggle with addiction.

“My struggles and my mistakes have been fodder for a vile and sustained disinformation campaign against [President Biden], and an all-out annihilation of my reputation through high-pitched but fruitless Congressional investigations,” the first son wrote. He says that he, like 20 million other Americans, suffers from a deadly but treatable substance abuse disorder. The only difference, he writes, “is that I’m the son of the president of the United States.”

“What troubles me is the demonization of addiction, of human frailty, using me as its avatar and the devastating consequences it has for the millions struggling with addiction, desperate for a way out and being bombarded by the denigrating and near-constant coverage of me and my addiction,” he continues.