On Tuesday morning, CNN’s New Day aired a portion of primetime anchor Chris Cuomo’s interview with Joe and Jill Biden. Cuomo asked the Bidens about their son, Hunter, who has been the subject of corruption concerns for his involvement with multiple foreign companies during his father’s tenure as Vice President.
Those concerns are legitimate, but the CNN morning show instead painted Hunter Biden as the victim of "personal" attacks by Republicans. CNN political analyst Astead Herndon tried to pivot those serious questions about suspicious financial dealings into a conversation about Hunter Biden’s mental health:
So, I think that as Republicans have mounted up using Hunter Biden's international lobbying, it is interesting to see the Bidens come out proactively and admit some of the struggles that he has had, and say, actually that's something that causes us to relate more closely to the American people. We know that kind of mental health issues -- problems, addiction issues are top of mind for American voters. So clearly, the Bidens are making a choice to come out that I think folks can commend, but also gets them to answer some of the political questions that Republicans have already shown the willingness to enter into that kind of murkier, more personal terrain.
Herndon’s focus on this gives the audience the impression that Republicans are attacking Hunter Biden for concerns over his mental health. The discussion is regarding possible corruption, not mental health.
Herndon was either woefully ignorant to the point conservatives were making, or he intentionally obfuscated it to mislead his audience into believing that Republicans are vicious monsters who will get low and attack a politician’s child for personal, health-related issues.
This isn’t the only issue with Herndon’s analysis, though. The left and the liberal media have aggressively attacked the entirety of the Trump family since the announcement of his 2016 campaign and showed their “willingness to enter into that kind of murkier, more personal terrain” far before any questions of corruption were raised.
In sharp contrast, the moment that a question was raised about a Democrat's family member, they cried foul. It’s time the left, and especially the media, recognize such blatant hypocrisy.
Here is the transcript from the segment:
CNN's New Day
07/09/19
8:43 a.m. EasternALISYN CAMEROTA: Astead, I was interested in the talk about Hunter Biden, so Joe Biden's son. You know, when Joe Biden was deliberating getting in for oh those many months that we kept hearing is he in, is he out. What we kept hearing is that he's thinking about his family, he's in consultations with his family. And, you know, the Trump campaign has already tried to use Hunter, and his business dealings, as fodder against Joe Biden. And so what do you think about them sort of, I don’t know I guess, turning it into an asset about a public national conversation about mental health?
ASTEAD HERNDON: I thought it was a really interesting conversation, just both for the morals of, like, where the mental health conversation needs to go, but also the politics. Joe Biden is someone whose identity has come in terms of that personal tragedy, of course the tragic car accident that happened as he ascended to the Senate, and he is someone who has made his political brand about family. I was just in Wilmington, Delaware, talking with a lot of community who knows him and don’t just talk about him, they talk about his wife and his family, and how integral they are. So, I think that as Republicans have mounted up using Hunter Biden's international lobbying, it is interesting to see the Bidens come out proactively and admit some of the struggles that he has had, and say, actually that's something that causes us to relate more closely to the American people. We know that kind of mental health issues -- problems, addiction issues are top of mind for American voters. So clearly, the Bidens are making a choice to come out that I think folks can commend, but also gets them to answer some of the political questions that Republicans have already shown the willingness to enter into that kind of murkier, more personal terrain.
