In anticipation of Joe Biden’s inauguration, on Tuesday, NBC’s Today show devoted an astonishing 10 minutes of air time to a wildly softball interview with the President-Elect’s daughter, Ashley Biden. At one point in the fawning exchange, correspondent Jenna Bush Hager even commiserated with the Biden family having to deal with “really dark things” during the presidential campaign, clearly referring to the legitimate corruption allegations raised against Hunter Biden.
“Ashley Biden is the 39-year-old daughter of Joe and Jill Biden, but odds are many of you don’t know much about her....now she’s stepping into the spotlight as her family prepares to take their place in history,” Hager gushed at the top of the sycophantic segment. Teeing up an adoring profile of the entire Biden family, Hager added: “Fiercely protective, family means everything to the Bidens.”
Minutes later, the fourth hour Today show host lamented how “victory in South Carolina made the former vice president the Democratic frontrunner and put a target on his back.” Ashley Biden was shown scolding the press on behalf of her father: “I felt like the media kind of always got it wrong when they made him out to be a gaffe machine or that he wasn’t, you know, as smart. I mean, the man is brilliant.”
Hager sympathized and vaguely alluded to criticism of the Biden family without actually explaining the details: “There is just a big difference this year, than I think we’ve ever seen, with the rise of social media and casual cruelty and baseless conspiracy theories, with the opponent saying some really dark things about your family....What were the darkest moments like for you all?”
Biden responded:
In those moments, we had each other. Yes, it hurts, right, but you also know the truth. It’s like, at the end of the day, they may get it wrong, but at least I got it right. You know, at least I know the real deal. I know, you know, the type of man my father is and the woman my mother is and the man my brother is. The cruelty and the meanness, that’s why I’m not, you know, I don’t have a social media account that’s public. Part of it is also having boundaries for myself because I believe in kindness. I believe in the humanity of all of us.
After the media successfully covered up the Hunter Biden corruption scandal throughout the campaign in order to help get Joe Biden elected, the broadcast networks steadfastly continued to censor the story even weeks after Biden had won. So much for speaking truth to power.
Back in February of 2020, a time when Biden’s presidential campaign looked to floundering, NBC was okay with calling out Hunter’s “sleazy” foreign business dealings. However, as it became clear Biden would be the Democratic Party standard-bearer, the questions softened accordingly.
Following her friendly sit-down with Ashley Biden on Tuesday, Hager marveled: “We’re the same age. We have so much in common. We never had met before, and I just was really struck, no matter if your dad is president or not, the feeling I got was pride. Pride in her father. Pride in her family. Pride in our country.” Co-host Hoda Kotb gushed: “I love just her openness....I don’t think she would have been that open with anybody else but you.”
Apparently Hager is the person that family members of Democratic politicians feel most comfortable talking to ahead of the inauguration. On Friday, she conducted a similar glowing interview with Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris’s niece, Meena Harris, who proceeded to compare her aunt and other family members to superheroes “saving the world.”
Segments like these are not news, it’s pure propaganda. Relatives of Republican politicians are rarely, if ever, treated to such media puff pieces – unless the person is a disgruntled liberal looking to denounce their conservative family member.
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Here are excerpts of the January 19 Today show interview:
7:32 AM ET
HODA KOTB: Alright, let’s turn back to the inauguration, guys. For President-Elect Joe Biden, it will be a moment in his life of public service 50 years in the making. A journey known best, of course, by his close-knit family.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Yeah, that’s right. And this morning, his daughter Ashley is giving us a look inside the Biden family. She sat down with Jenna for her first ever network television interview. Jenna, good morning. First daughter to first daughter.
JENNA BUSH HAGER: Yes, first daughter to first daughter. Ashley Biden is the 39-year-old daughter of Joe and Jill Biden, but odds are many of you don’t know much about her. Although she is extremely close to her dad, she’s kept a low profile. But now she’s stepping into the spotlight as her family prepares to take their place in history.
ASHLEY BIDEN: I’m just so proud. I truly am proud of y father.
HAGER: Ashley Biden, the only child of Joe and Jill Biden, grew up in Delaware with her half brothers Hunter and Beau. Fiercely protective, family means everything to the Bidens.
(...)
7:37 AM ET
HAGER: That victory in South Carolina made the former vice president the Democratic frontrunner and put a target on his back.
BIDEN: I felt like the media kind of always got it wrong when they made him out to be a gaffe machine or that he wasn’t, you know, as smart. I mean, the man is brilliant.
HAGER: There is just a big difference this year, than I think we’ve ever seen, with the rise of social media and casual cruelty and baseless conspiracy theories, with the opponent saying some really dark things about your family.
BIDEN: Yeah.
HAGER: What were the darkest moments like for you all?
BIDEN: In those moments, we had each other. Yes, it hurts, right, but you also know the truth. It’s like, at the end of the day, they may get it wrong, but at least I got it right. You know, at least I know the real deal. I know, you know, the type of man my father is and the woman my mother is and the man my brother is. The cruelty and the meanness, that’s why I’m not, you know, I don’t have a social media account that’s public. Part of it is also having boundaries for myself because I believe in kindness. I believe in the humanity of all of us.
HAGER: That belief challenged on January 6, as a mob of Trump supporters climbed the scaffolding erected for Ashley’s father’s inauguration and invaded the Capitol building. I wonder, as you watched that, what went through your mind?
BIDEN: I was deeply saddened that this was a place I grew up going as a child, as you did, too, and a place where dad has worked for over 30 years. A sacred place, really. And to see what happened really, you know, to see what was going on, I mean, it was truly horrifying.
HAGER: When you watched that and when you feel the anger coming from many people in our country, does it worry you? I mean, are you scared for the safety of those you love?
BIDEN: Yes, I do. However, I also know the Secret Service are incredible. He has so much protection. So in that way, I don’t.
(...)
7:41 AM ET
HAGER: You know, it was so interesting. We’re the same age. We have so much in common. We never had met before, and I just was really struck, no matter if your dad is president or not, the feeling I got was pride. Pride in her father. Pride in her family. Pride in our country. And I think, hopefully, people watching will see that, like, we have so much more that brings us together than what divides.
KOTB: And I love just her openness. And I was thinking, I don’t think she would have been that open with anybody else but you. And you felt – you felt her, and I was just – I wouldn’t have been able to pick her out of a crowd until this moment.
HAGER: Yeah, my sister was like – I was, like, we have to get together with Ashley, you have so much in common. And she was like, “He has a daughter?” [Laughter]
GUTHRIE: Well, it’s remarkable for someone like Joe Biden, who’s been in public life for four-plus decades, you know, and here’s his daughter and you know so little about her.
HAGER: You know, and I think that was what really struck me, is that we – there is this history of families that get the privilege of living history, and she is one of them. And I think she will do extraordinary things. She has lived a great life on her own.
KOTB: Well, you’re not done, either, Miss Jenna. We’re looking forward to your exclusive interview you’re gonna have – and we saw a little chunk of it – with the four Biden granddaughters. So obviously, they’re very successful women in their own right. That will be tomorrow, a special series about their family. That’s gonna be pretty cool.
HAGER: Yeah, it was fun talking with them.
GUTHRIE: Well, you obviously bring a really cool perspective, you having been there yourself. And we really appreciate it, Jenna, thank you.
