As part of the ongoing Acela Media effort to enable Hunter Biden’s new media strategy, MSNBC’s Alex Wagner was joined by Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA), where he was given free rein to smear conservatives and impugn the motives of those who investigate the Biden family corruption.
Watch as the public flatulator and Chinese spy romancer proceeds, with smiling assent from Wagner, to link the existing impeachment inquiry with the January 6th Capitol Riot (click "expand"):
ALEX WAGNER: To the extent that you are able to, could you help us understand a little bit of the dibble- deliberations that led to that moment yesterday outside the Capitol. Was there any reluctance on the part of Mr. Biden to speak to the public on an issue so fraught for his family?
U.S. REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): No. He's eager to tell his story publicly. And in fact he was asked by Chairman Comer, the Republican chairman, to testify publicly, multiple times, Comer said you could do it privately or publicly. And Hunter recognized that they were distorting the public- or the private testimony that was taking place and that Republicans would rather have the mystery and the speculation of a closed-door hearing than the truth come out and come to light in a public hearing. And so yesterday was Hunter saying, and raising his hands and saying “I'm here. I'm not perfect. I made mistakes in the past.” But what you think happened never happened. And he wanted to bring that to light publicly.
WAGNER: Do you think that this is going to be an ongoing strategy? I mean, are we gonna hear more from Hunter Biden because Republicans are certainly not letting this go anytime soon. Does that mean Hunter Biden is going to be in front of a microphone for the next few months?
SWALWELL: Well, I hope his story is told because the Republicans have nothing. In fact, what you will see the more you learn, is that Hunter Biden, just like millions of Americans, was an addicted person who made mistakes in his personal life, had a father and a mother who loved him very, very much and helped him, and he has been clean for many, many years. But what’s sick and perverse about this and I say that is somebody who has a loved one that I’ve helped fight addiction, is that Republicans would weaponize his addiction because they have never accepted his father as a legitimate president of the United States. And so it's time to play on the Republican side of the field and say if you want to talk about this, let's have a public hearing and talk about this. But that's not what they want, because they have nothing. And so they will continue, whether it was through a violent insurrection to overturn the election or now through this impeachment inquiry, or through the speculation around the president's son, they'll use every weapon in government to try and throw out Joe Biden, because they’ve never accepted he is lawful president of our country.
The entire interview went pretty much like this, but this clip is representative. All the elements were there for Swalwell. Recovering addict. Personal mistakes were made. A father’s love. No proof of wrongdoing or criminality. MAGA.
Of course, it wasn’t that long ago that Swalwell saw the value in closed-door hearings in furtherance of impeachment inquiries. None of that mattered to Wagner, who was there to facilitate this new, performatively assertive Biden media strategy. Not sure whether Gov. Newsom of California was the best exemplar of such a strategy, though, but here we are.
Exit question: since Wagner put on the record that Swalwell reserved the space for Hunter Biden to give his performative statement prior to blowing off the committees, is Swalwell now a co-conspirator to contempt of Congress? Them’s the rules, right?
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on MSNBC’s Alex Wagner Tonight on Thursday, December 14th, 2023:
HUNTER BIDEN: I'm here today to make sure that the House committees’ illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies. I'm also here today to correct how the MAGA right has portrayed me for their political purposes. There is no fairness or decency in what these Republicans are doing.
ALEX WAGNER: Hunter Biden told Axios today that he feels it's one of his responsibilities to now defend his father, and to call out Republican lies as loud and as often as possible going forward. Which is why he made those remarks just outside the Capitol yesterday. And he did so with the support of California Congressman Eric Swalwell, who reserved the spot so that Hunter Biden could speak to the press. Joining me now is Congressman Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California. He's also a member of the Judiciary Committee and served as House manager during the second impeachment of Donald Trump. Congressman Swalwell, thanks for being here. To the extent that you are able to, could you help us understand a little bit of the dibble- deliberations that led to that moment yesterday outside the Capitol. Was there any reluctance on the part of Mr. Biden to speak to the public on an issue so fraught for his family?
U.S. REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): No. He's eager to tell his story publicly. And in fact he was asked by Chairman Comer, the Republican chairman, to testify publicly, multiple times, Comer said you could do it privately or publicly. And Hunter recognized that they were distorting the public- or the private testimony that was taking place and that Republicans would rather have the mystery and the speculation of a closed-door hearing than the truth come out and come to light in a public hearing. And so yesterday was Hunter saying, and raising his hands and saying “I'm here. I'm not perfect. I made mistakes in the past.” But what you think happened never happened. And he wanted to bring that to light publicly.
WAGNER: Do you think that this is going to be an ongoing strategy? I mean, are we gonna hear more from Hunter Biden because Republicans are certainly not letting this go anytime soon. Does that mean Hunter Biden is going to be in front of a microphone for the next few months?
SWALWELL: Well, I hope his story is told because the Republicans have nothing. In fact, what you will see the more you learn, is that Hunter Biden, just like millions of Americans, was an addicted person who made mistakes in his personal life, had a father and a mother who loved him very, very much and helped him, and he has been clean for many, many years. But what’s sick and perverse about this and I say that is somebody who has a loved one that I’ve helped fight addiction, is that Republicans would weaponize his addiction because they have never accepted his father as a legitimate president of the United States. And so it's time to play on the Republican side of the field and say if you want to talk about this, let's have a public hearing and talk about this. But that's not what they want, because they have nothing. And so they will continue, whether it was through a violent insurrection to overturn the election or now through this impeachment inquiry, or through the speculation around the president's son, they'll use every weapon in government to try and throw out Joe Biden, because they’ve never accepted he is lawful president of our country.
WAGNER: There is some reporting I think, in Axios, that there's tension around this strategy of addressing the issue head on and publicly, and that talking about it personally and publicly risks giving more oxygen to a fantasy that Republicans concocted that somehow president Biden is implicated in all of this and has committed impeachable offenses. Do you think there is any merit to that wisdom, that to talk about it gives more oxygen?
SWALWELL: No. Zero. I see a good and decent man in Joe Biden who united the country and all the evidence has shown that he loved his son. His son was on hard times and he bought his son a truck and his son paid him back. He loaned his brother money and his brother paid him back. Joe Biden is just a decent American who fought MAGAism and is seeing them use this against him, as I said, in this sick and perverse way. And so, we also should just contrast, by the way, that while Joe Biden was helping his addicted son, Donald Trump, in the White House, with his daughter, Ivanka, who was getting patents granted to her from the Chinese, or trademarks granted to her from the Chinese while he was president and his son, son-in-law Jared Kushner, was striking deals over in the Gulf worth billions of dollars while Donald Trump is having people stay at his hotel just a block away from the White House and making money himself. So it’s just absurd that we would do anything but lean in on this and show one good decent man and one very corrupt, twice impeached 91-felony-count-charged individual. I'll take that contrast any day.
WAGNER: Yeah, I wonder if you could talk about that in sort of the broader context of how Democrats deal with Republicans in this day and age. On the one hand, there's kind of a strategy that’s been embraced by Gavin Newsom of California which is effectively, sort of using my own colorful language, “punch them in the face”, right? Go to where they are, go to Fox News, talk to Ron Desantis, put out the billboards, don't be afraid to take them on in the arena. And then there's kind of the strategy that has been embraced in previous years, again I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but when they go into the muck, we rise above. When they go low we go high. And I wonder if you think those two are compatible in this day and age or whether, you know, the Democrats need to choose between one or the other.
SWALWELL: No- I think we have a story to tell and we can't be too damn modest in telling it. We don't have to lie or make things up about them. What they want to do, you know, to a woman and her right to make her own health care decisions, to your kid and right to read what they want to read in the classroom or to your children and the right to go home safely after school and not be killed by gun violence. We have a story to tell, but we're too modest sometimes and we stand on this false virtue sometimes as Democrats. And what I’m proposing is that too much is at stake in this upcoming election to let just them beat up on the presidents formally addicted son and not let him tell the story about how decent of a father he had to help save him from that addiction.
So the suggestion here is, Democrats, reclaim the narrative and say it loud, I suppose
…you heard it there. Congressman Eric Swalwell. Thank you for your time, Sir. I appreciate it.
SWALWELL: My pleasure.
