Democratic nominee Joe Biden on Wednesday described his son Hunter as “the smartest guy I know” -- amid growing questions about the former vice president's alleged ties to his son’s business dealings.

Biden made the remarks during an online event hosted by Oprah Winfrey, in which he retold how he went home and gathered with his family when then-nominee Barack Obama asked him to be his running mate in 2008.

BIDEN STAYS SILENT ON BOBULINSKI CLAIMS ABOUT FAMILY'S BUSINESS VENTURES

“So I got off the train, went home, true story. And we sat down the back and I had my deceased son Beau, who was then the Attorney General of the state of Delaware. And I had my son. Hunter, is the smartest guy I know,” he said. “My daughter who is a social worker. And my and the whole family was there. And we sat in the back porch ..."

'PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY': TONY BOBULINSKI CLAIMS BIDEN FAMILY SHRUGGED OFF CONCERNS ABOUT RISK TO 2020 BID 

Questions about Hunter’s business dealings, and his father’s alleged role in them, have been growing since the discovery of emails on a laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter, and claims by Hunter's former business associate that he met with the elder Biden in 2017.

That associate, Tony Bobulinski, gave an interview on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Tuesday and detailed his alleged meetings with the former vice president -- one he says took place on May 2, 2017, according to text messages first reported by Fox News last week.

'PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY': TONY BOBULINSKI CLAIMS BIDEN FAMILY SHRUGGED OFF CONCERNS ABOUT RISK TO 2020 BID 

Those messages indicated that the meeting did, in fact, take place. Bobulinski claimed Tuesday that it was Hunter Biden and Jim Biden, the brother of the former vice president, who had pushed for the meeting.

“They were sort of wining and dining me and presenting the strength of the Biden family to get me engaged,” he said.

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The Biden campaign declined to comment on the meeting Joe Biden allegedly had with Bobulinski. Biden himself has not yet directly addressed Bobulinski's claims on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

In 2019, Biden told reporters: "I have never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their businesses. Period."

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.