CNN host Jake Tapper committed a random act on Sunday while moderating his network’s roundtable program State of the Union when he asked if President Biden should stop saying his son Hunter did nothing wrong. The rare moment of objectivity occurred while he was interviewing New York Democrat Congressman and Levi Strauss heir Dan Goldman about the special counsel investigation into Hunter Biden.
Tapper started off by airing a clip of Biden’s defense of Hunter during a recent interview with MSNBC’s The 11th Hour host Stephanie Ruhle where he said Hunter did nothing wrong.
From there, Tapper turned to Goldman and noted “I understand this is a dad talking about his son, but it's also the President of the United States talking about a potential defendant in a case that his Justice Department is prosecuting. Also he was about to plead guilty to some of the things he did wrong.”
He then asked Goldman: “Does the President need to stop publicly saying his son did nothing wrong?”
“The President has been very clear that he's gonna let the process play out. What we do know is that through all of the investigations in Congress, they are simply investigating a private citizen,” Goldman responded.
The Levi Strauss heir proceeded to falsely claim that “Hunter Biden will be treated by the Department of Justice as he should be, but Congress needs to stop investigating a private citizen and stop this fishing expedition to try to link President Biden to Hunter Biden's conduct when there is no evidence to support that.”
To his credit, Tapper doubled down and pressed Goldman on what Hunter’s former business partner Devon Archer testified before Congress that Hunter put his father on speaker phone with business partners more than 20 times.
“Shouldn't President Biden have realized what Hunter was doing here, getting on the phone, talking on speakerphone with his business associates?,” Tapper asked Goldman. “Didn't he at the very least show a major lapse in judgment and a blind spot with his son and how he handled this?”
Credit to Tapper for actually asking a legitimate question for once.
The transcript is below. Click expand to read:
CNN’s State of the Union
8/13/2023
9:33:36 a.m. EasternJAKE TAPPER: I understand this is a dad talking about his son, but it's also the President of the United States talking about a potential defendant in a case that his Justice Department is prosecuting. Also he was about to plead guilty to some of the things he did wrong. Does the President need to stop publicly saying his son did nothing wrong?
REP. DAN GOLDMAN: Well, look, I think the President has been very clear that he's gonna let the process play out. What we do know is that through all of the investigations in Congress, they are simply investigating a private citizen. Hunter Biden is not running for president. And Joe Biden is running for president, and he is the president, and yet notwithstanding all of the time, effort, and all of the moving goal posts, there's no evidence connecting President Biden to any of his son's business dealings. And you know, you can sing all you want and make all sorts of accusations, but the fact of the matter is that President Biden -- there's been no evidence to show he's been involved in anything. And so Hunter Biden will be treated by the Department of Justice as he should be, but Congress needs to stop investigating a private citizen and stop this fishing expedition to try to link President Biden to Hunter Biden's conduct when there is no evidence to support that.
TAPPER: Well, Devin Archer, Hunter Biden's business partner, told you in closed-door testimony that Hunter would put his father on speakerphone with -- while he was meeting with his business associates, and this happened at least 20 times, and Archer told you that Hunter would use these calls to send signals to his business partners to create the impression that his father was involved and helpful to his business even if you're right, as there has been no establishment of any facts that Joe Biden did anything as Vice President or President relatedly. But shouldn't President Biden have realized what Hunter was doing here, getting on the phone, talking on speakerphone with his business associates? Didn't he at the very least show a major lapse in judgment and a blind spot with his son and how he handled this?
