Alexi McCammond: Hello everyone! If President Biden and President Trump are both involved in legal issues and salacious family drama, will that matter to voters this fall? Republicans are using Hunter instead of Joe on their presidential campaign to try to convince voters that the Biden family is just as corrupt as they’ve heard about Trump.
David von Drehle: It seems clear that the actions of the president are more important than the actions of his family, but in our unhealthy “what matters” debate, the impact of Hunter Biden’s conviction tends to confuse the issue in some people’s minds.
Chuck Lane: Trump will play that game in the first debate, make no mistake about it. He will try to bait Biden and play on his emotions.
David: Here’s the clincher: The more we learn about Hunter Biden’s disastrous life, the more we ask: Why were Chinese and Ukrainian companies paying him millions?
Alexi: To me, this trial could also be an opportunity for Democrats (or Republicans) to have a conversation about federal gun control policy. Just saying!
Chuck: Absolutely. But the Republican Party should stand with Hunter Biden. Because the Republican Party’s position is Guns for everyone.
Alexi: In some ways, Hunter’s trial gives President Biden an opportunity to talk about the compassion and empathy he showed his son, something that voters liked about him in the 2020 election, especially compared to Trump, who is certainly not known for such things.
David: Caring or helping?
Alexi: You might be right. Can you please elaborate a bit on that?
David: As someone with some experience with addiction, I have had to learn that smoothing the path of an addict is not helpful. The Biden family appears to have overlooked a lot of Hunter’s bad behavior over the years and still seems hell-bent on preventing him from suffering the consequences of his actions.
Alexi: Thanks for sharing the DVD. I’m sorry you had that experience. As someone who has experienced it myself, I know the hardest thing is to be hard on a loved one when they are actively fighting for their life.
David: Yes, Alexi, you’re right. Raising children is really hard work. Even if Hunter made misleading statements on his gun purchase form, there’s no doubt he has repeatedly committed state and federal felonies over the years, not to mention his disrespectful behavior. He is a grown man and should face the consequences.
Alexi: Unlike Trump’s trial in Manhattan, many family members attended Hunter’s trial in Wilmington.
Chuck: I’m not 100% sold on Jill Biden’s appearance in court because it seemed like a way to pressure the jury.
Alexi: Hmm. I think it’s a good thing that stepmoms show up for their stepkids! And now that Hunter has been convicted, can President Biden better refute Republican accusations that he used the Justice Department as a weapon against Trump?
David: Perhaps this runs counter to the weaponization argument, we’ll see.
Chuck: Yes and no, the discussions were not held in good faith to begin with.
David: Chuck, I strongly agree. On the plus side, it seems like for the first time in his life, Trump recognizes the rule of law, so maybe that’s a good thing.
Alexi: Well, hopefully people will find some compassion for addicts along the way, and maybe some crazy challenges to federal gun control will emerge!
🙅🏽♀️🙅🏽♀️🙅🏽♀️
Now that Hunter Biden’s sentence has been handed down, President Biden’s response will come under intense scrutiny. Consider what Alon Solomon wrote in an op-ed for The Hill:
The psychological impact of Biden knowing his son will be going to court in Delaware every day and that he may very well end up in prison is more than enough to change the pardon paradigm. Having witnessed and endured everything Hunter Biden has been through, the shock of a legal conviction could shake President Biden’s moral convictions. Any parent can understand that.
Given that Republicans have long tried to use Hunter Biden’s legal troubles and business dealings to undermine his father politically, the proceedings will not only shed light on a deeply personal and tumultuous moment in the history of the Biden family, but will also determine the family’s political fate. History will determine whether political expediency or paternal instinct wins out.
Republican strategist Mark McKinnon, writing in Vanity Fair, argues that making the election a referendum on family issues and character could be a winning strategy for Biden.
The pain Joe Biden feels is palpable. It is clear that he knows that if he were not president, if he was not running for reelection, his son would likely never be prosecuted for the crimes he is accused of. …Republicans love to talk about family values. But if the outcome of this upcoming election hinges on the question of which candidate truly values family, the verdict will be unanimous.
This week, 4 years ago
Four years ago this week, amid nationwide protests against police brutality, Amazon decided to ban police from using its facial recognition technology, but only for a year. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) And the once-popular reality TV show “Cops,” which first aired in 1989, was eventually canceled after criminal justice advocates decried the show for normalizing police misconduct.
- Have you seen this? As Substack author and epidemiologist Caitlin Jeterina reports, a scientific controversy is rocking the Supreme Court mifepristone case. Read her op-ed.
- What? Ginny Hogan argues that Trump is a misogynist’s ideal feminist. Read the Daily Beast op-ed.
- Is nationalism a choice? Hamilton Nolan says yes, and he explores why that’s dangerous in his Substack newsletter. Read it here.
