First Daughter Ashley Biden

Being the child or grandchild of President Joe Biden comes with a fair amount of media scrutiny but no lack of love from Biden himself.

Speaking to Today's Jenna Bush Hager in an interview that aired Tuesday and Wednesday, Biden's daughter Ashley and his granddaughters — Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie and Naomi — spoke about what the former vice president is like as a family man.



"He literally calls not just like one of us every few days," Maisy, 18, told Today. "He calls me, then he calls Natalie, then he calls Naomi, he calls Finn, then he calls Ashley …"

Even when he was vice president, added Maisy, their grandfather always made an effort to go to as many athletic events, school plays and talent shows as he could.

"He was at everything that he could make it to," she said. "It was always fun to see him show up. I'd be like, 'I think I just saw you on TV — how did you end up here?' "



Ashey, 39, also touched on the tragedies that have marked the lives of the Bidens, noting that her father had been changed by loss. His first wife, Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed in a 1972 Christmastime car crash and his son Beau died of cancer in 2015.

"Dad is so empathetic and has the ability to recognize pain, to feel others' pain and to comfort," Ashley said on Today. "We have a rule still today that no matter where dad is, no matter what meeting he's in, if one of the kids call, you have to let him know."



Ashley added then that "Beauie," as the family affectionately calls him, would be at the inauguration in spirit.

"I know Beauie will be there with us," she said. "It's going to be a really beautiful, special moment, not only for our family but for the country."



Biden granddaughter Natalie, 16, shared her own favorite memories of growing up with the now-president, which include a family Polar Bear Plunge on Thanksgiving during an annual trip to Nantucket in Massachusetts.

"Thanksgiving I think is all of our favorite holiday," she said. "Because we usually go to Nantucket ... Maisy and I and my grandpa and my uncle and my dad ... we used to to do a Polar Bear plunge in Nantucket in November."

Maisy added that the annual family tradition was made slightly more challenging due to the increased security surrounding a former vice president: "It would always be crazy because they would have to bring all the divers and swimmers for Secret Service for my Pop. And it's like me and Natalie and him holding hands, sprinting into the water."

Prior to launching his most recent bid for president, Biden's grandchildren told Today, they sat him down to help convince him his decision was a good one.

"We just kind of all agreed that we had to sit my grandparents down face-to-face and tell them not only that we want them to run but that we'll be okay if they do run," Naomi said.