MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough had a curious reaction to the Tuesday news that Hunter Biden will be pleading guilty to tax and gun-related charges: lash out at Republicans and their “conspiracy theories.” Way Too Early host and Politico White House bureau chief Jonathan Lemire managed to one up Scarborough by adding that developments are “good news” for President Joe Biden.
After legal analyst Joyce Vance ran through the charges, Scarborough focused on what Hunter wasn’t charged with, “Yeah, and Jonathan Lemire, so obviously Republicans-- Trump Republicans have been trying to stir up conspiracy theories left and right. One after another have been disproven. One after another, we found out as the Wall Street Journal editorial page himself said no fire here. A lot of smoke all over the place, no fire.”
In something never said about Robert Mueller and Russia Collusion, Scarborough claimed “Not only have they proven nothing, they have senior members of the Senate saying we don't care whether he's guilty or not, we don’t care whether he did this stuff or not, it's all been a show. Well, that show has just been exposed by Trump's own prosecutor, Trump-appointed prosecutor in Delaware. He's done a deal with him, a plea deal.”
As for Lemire, he also was focused on Republicans and what Hunter wasn’t charged with, “Certainly Republicans have for literally years now accused Hunter Biden of basically everything under the sun, including he's the mastermind behind the Biden Crime Family and corruption and all that, a charge we don’t need to get into now because they were never brought.”
Just because Hunter wasn’t charged with anything corruption-related doesn’t mean what he did wasn’t sleazy and, again, Morning Joe would never say “we don’t need to get into” Russian collusion storylines because no charges of collusion were ever brought.
Lemire then went from anti-Republican hatchet man to pro-Democratic spin doctor as he insisted the news makes the Bidens look good. First, on Hunter, Lemire touted Hunter taking responsibility for his actions, “This is what came to be, about the gun and about some minor tax charges and now we are seeing Hunter Biden take responsibility and plead guilty.”
Pausing that train of thought, Lemire went back to attacking Republicans, “Now, that's not going to stop Republicans, I venture to guess. I suspect we will have lots of howling from the GOP along the same lines, that Hunter Biden got easy—why isn’t he—got off easy, why isn't he going to prison. There's a double standard of justice, you know, Biden’s Justice Department taking care of his own. They’ll ignore the facts as they have ignored the facts throughout this process.”
Resuming his pro-Biden spin, Lemire argued that the news is a positive development for Joe Biden, “Certainly, this is a day of closure for the president's family. We know how much this has weighed on the President of the United States, his son in legal jeopardy. So, that is good news there, but this is not going to disappear as a political issue, at least not anytime soon. We are sure the Republicans will continue hammering away no matter what the facts actually hold.”
Scarborough agreed, “Well, exactly, and Donald Trump can now attack a prosecutor, a U.S. Attorney that he appointed himself, it would fit very tightly with everything else that’s going on. You know, they don’t like the facts, they love conspiracy theories. Well, this is another one that didn’t play out for them.”
Even if Hunter Biden’s business dealings were not illegal, they were, at the very least, sketchy and look bad. That’s not a conspiracy theory.
This segment was sponsored by 4imprint.
Here is a transcript for the June 20 show:
MSNBC Morning Joe
6/20/2023
9:34 AM ET
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, and Jonathan Lemire, so obviously Republicans-- Trump Republicans have been trying to stir up conspiracy theories left and right. One after another have been disproven. One after another, we found out as the Wall Street Journal editorial page himself said no fire here. A lot of smoke all over the place, no fire.
Not only have they proven nothing, they have senior members of the Senate saying we don't care whether he's guilty or not, we don’t care whether he did this stuff or not, it's all been a show. Well, that show has just been exposed by Trump's own prosecutor, Trump-appointed prosecutor in Delaware. He's done a deal with him, a plea deal.
The type of which Trump’s lawyers are trying to get him to agree to--
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: But he’s pleaded, yeah--
SCARBOROUGH: -- that Trump wouldn’t do. Hunter Biden did.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah, Hunter Biden pleading guilty. This is, as Joyce said, and other legal analysts are saying, an agreement that comes within the sort of heartland of where these sort of things usually end up.
Certainly Republicans have for literally years now accused Hunter Biden of basically everything under the sun, including he's the mastermind behind the Biden Crime Family and corruption and all that, a charge we don’t need to get into now because they were never brought.
This is what came to be, about the gun and about some minor tax charges and now we are seeing Hunter Biden take responsibility and plead guilty.
Now, that's not going to stop Republicans, I venture to guess. I suspect we will have lots of howling from the GOP along the same lines, that Hunter Biden got easy—why isn’t he—got off easy, why isn't he going to prison. There's a double standard of justice, you know, Biden’s Justice Department taking care of his own.
They’ll ignore the facts as they have ignored the facts throughout this process. Certainly, this is a day of closure for the president's family. We know how much this has weighed on the President of the United States, his son in legal jeopardy. So, that is good news there, but this is not going to disappear as a political issue, at least not anytime soon.
We are sure the Republicans will continue hammering away no matter what the facts actually hold.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, exactly, and Donald Trump can now attack a prosecutor, a U.S. Attorney that he appointed himself, it would fit very tightly with everything else that’s going on. You know, they don’t like the facts, they love conspiracy theories. Well, this is another one that didn’t play out for them.
