You'd have to be some sort of hick from the sticks to take a Hunter Biden criminal conviction into account in deciding on your 2024 presidential vote.
That was Molly Jong-Fast's gist on today's Way Too Early, the Morning Joe pregame show. When host Jonathan Lemire asked the MSNBC political analyst whether there could be a negative political impact for Joe Biden stemming from a Hunter conviction, she suggested only hayseeds who can't make fine moral distinctions could be misled:
"Yeah, I mean, I think, look, you know, there are low-information voters who are like, oh, they're both in trouble with the law.."
Oh, those déclassé low-information voters! The kind who, unlike Jong-Fast, didn't attend the Riverdale Country School and Barnard, and score a Master of Fine Arts from Bennington College. And whose mother isn't the best-selling feminist novelist Erica Jong.
Jong-Fast also claimed that the evidence was "convoluted" of Hunter having lied in denying using illegal drugs on his application for a firearm.
Really? What's convoluted about this, Molly [emphasis added]?
"The first evidence a Delaware jury heard on Tuesday was Biden reading from his audiobook memoir in which he talks about being addicted to crack cocaine for four years. His addiction years include the time he purchased a pistol in Delaware and filled out a form declaring that he was not addicted to drugs."
And then there was this:
"Two days after Hunter Biden purchased the gun — he texted Hallie Biden after she had frantically tried to reach him: “I was sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th street and Rodney,” the message said."
Jong-Fast cooed about Dr. Jill returning from Normandy to attend the trial, that "they're a close family. And I think that speaks well of them." We don't know the current relationship between Hunter and Dr. Jill, but in 2018 he reportedly described her as an "entitled c-word" and an "f---ing moron."
And yes, a family so "close" that Joe Biden's daughter Ashley's diary described "showers with my dad (probably not appropriate)." Who needs to ask any questions about that?
Note: Having viewed numerous MSNBC appearances by Jong-Fast, I've found myself bewildered by just what she is doing on national TV. Her diction is muddled, and the insights of this "political analyst" are pedestrian—at best.
This 2022 New York Times article provides insights on the matter. Entitled, "How Molly Jong-Fast Tweeted Her Way to Liberal Media Stardom," it paints a picture of Jong-Fast that is admiring of her moxie in making the most of her connections, but not very flattering about her analytical chops.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Way Too Early
6/7/24
6:00 am EDTMOLLY JONG-FAST: I think this Hunter Biden case, even though, you know, the idea that they're charging him because he said he was an addict in the text message, and I mean, that stuff is pretty convoluted.
But, you know, it does make the case that the law is the law for everyone. And they really are. These charges are pretty unusual, and they're doing it. So, there really is a sign that they're just going after everyone left, right, center.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah, follow-up on the Hunter Biden case. You're right, and you make a good point here. The president did not interfere with the investigation. In fact, he said yesterday in an interview he would not pardon his son, even if Hunter were to be convicted.
JONG-FAST: Right.
LEMIRE: So, I think those are good things in his column. Do you think there would be any, any downside here for President Biden were Hunter to be convicted? Of course, as the personal toll, of course. Do we think there is any political impact?
JONG-FAST: Yeah, I mean, I think, look, you know, there are low-information voters who are like, oh, they're both in trouble with the law.
I mean, I would say Hunter Biden is very different than Donald Trump --
LEMIRE: Yes.
JONG-FAST: -- and being a crack addict because you have an addiction is very different than a myriad of criminal charges, many cases which you've been able to punt. And then you have these fraud cases. So I don't think they're the same at all, but I do think, you know, everything can be a problem, especially in politics.
LEMIRE: And certainly, those close to President Biden worry about just how he will receive this news. We know he is deeply worried about his son.
JONG-FAST: And also, the First Lady coming back from France to go to the trial. I mean, the sister has been there. Everyone in Biden world, they're a close family. And I think that speaks well of them, but I think it is a huge stressor.
LEMIRE: And a lot of Americans can relate to the trouble with addiction.
