On CNN’s The Chris Wallace Show on Saturday morning, they talked about Hunter Biden, but it was framed as Hunter making Republicans look dumb.
Wallace began: "Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. The president's embattled son Hunter Biden taking on House Republicans this week, agreeing to testify in their impeachment inquiry, but only if it’s in public. House Republicans quick to reject the offer, calling for Hunter to testify first in private."
After a soundbite of Rep. James Comer, Wallace then asked leftist podcaster Kara Swisher: "Kara, did Hunter Biden outsmart House Republicans, saying sure I'll testify -- in public?" The screen also asked 'DID HUNTER BIDEN OUTSMART HOUSE REPUBLICANS?'
Swisher agreed: "Yes, I thought it was brilliant actually, because he's a somewhat appealing character. People will get to see him for the first time rather than the cartoon and now they have to say 'no we don't want to see you,' and after all this time, we have to see Hunter Biden."
That's a weird flex, because Hunter Biden did a weird round of interviews when his addiction memoir Beautiful Things came out in 2021.
National Review contributor Reihan Salam strongly dissented from the CNN theme, calling Hunter's tactic "absolutely clownish. Look, when president trump was being impeached, there was a deposition first. When you had the January 6th investigations, there was a deposition first. There is a way that this is done in a thoughtful, responsible, professional way, and this is a stunt. It is nothing more than that."
Wallace protested that "even hardline Republican" Sen. Josh Hawley advocated a public hearing, and he showed a clip. Then Wallace said "Just open the doors, Reihan!" Salam repeated it was an "entirely reasonable request" to begin with a private deposition (like the Pelosi-Picked Panel). He added: "Make it public fine, he's still going to come across as a clown, and someone who has been engaged in some pretty shady practices. That's fine, but this is a stunt. It's nothing more than that."
Swisher shot back: "Yes. And It’s a good stunt. and OMG, I agree with Josh Hawley... Again, all of this is performative...why shouldn't he do it? This is exactly what he should do."
Then Wallace turned to the polls: " Even if there's no smoking gun in this whole investigation, so far at least, that Joe Biden benefitted personally from Hunter's business deals in China and Ukraine. Folks don't like it, take a look at this. Look at this [AP] poll from October: 35%, that the president did something illegal, and 33%, including one-third of Democrats, and Joe Biden did something unethical. Lulu, how big of a drag is Hunter Biden on his dad's campaign?"
New York Times podcaster Lulu Garcia-Navarro, a former NPR host, repeated the usual lie: "We should say there is no proof of this yet. Right? They have been investigating for quite some time and there is no proof of this...that he benefitted personally." They all ignore the big checks Joe Biden was getting from his brother Jim, who was involved in Hunter's foreign deals. It was "loan repayment," claim the Bidens.
Then she admitted "I think he's a drag, though. He's like that relative that we all have in our families, which we wish we didn't have and has been up to some stuff, and we kind of put them in a corner at a party and we're kind of embarrassed. I mean, you know, Hunter Biden is no poster child here for good behavior. That said, it remains to be seen, has he done anything criminal?"
Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Andersen said there's enormous "baggage and trauma" in Hunter's life, but this scandal negates the Trump family scandals with voters. Then she wondered if we couldn't get nominees whose families aren't embroiled in financial scandals.
