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The Media Have Always Carried Water for Hunter Biden. Don't Expect It to Stop Now.

Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden / Getty Images
Drew Holden
June 27, 2023

Hunter Biden is in the news again following the release of text messages that show President Joe Biden was aware of—and involved with—the first son's dealings with a Chinese energy company.

But the explosive news could fizzle in the hands of the mainstream press. The media have consistently given Hunter Biden a pass and painted the president's troubled son in the most flattering light. Why stop now?

THEN: The media broke out the kid gloves when Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy for using cocaine in 2014 and when he started dating his brother's widow in 2017.

In 2019, the media ran interference on allegations involving Hunter and Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, suggesting there couldn't be anything untoward involving the Bidens and a company that paid Hunter over a million dollars per year to sit on its board.

• NBC News, "There's no evidence for Trump's Biden-Ukraine accusations. What really happened?"

Biden's response to Trump's Ukraine conspiracy theory

"Trump's doing this because he knows I'll beat him like a drum and he's using the abuse of power and every element of the presidency to try to do something to smear me," Biden said this weekend, telling reporters that Trump had abused his power and "violated the Constitution."

Biden also said he's "never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings."

Still, in a July profile in The New Yorker, Hunter Biden recalled a brief conversation with his father about his work in Ukraine: "As Hunter recalled, his father discussed Burisma with him just once: "Dad said, 'I hope you know what you are doing,' and I said, 'I do.'"

• New York Times, "How Joe Biden Talks About a Touchy Subject: His Son":

At issue is an unsubstantiated theory pushed by Mr. Trump that Mr. Biden took action in Ukraine as vice president in order to help his son, who at the time held a lucrative position as a board member of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company.

The press worked overtime—and in conjunction with the Biden campaign—to dismiss evidence of illegal and unseemly activity found on Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop.

• USA Today, "A tabloid got a trove of data on Hunter Biden from Rudy Giuliani. Now, the FBI is probing a possible disinformation campaign":

When the New York Post published the alleged contents of a computer hard drive purporting to document the Ukrainian and Chinese business activities of Hunter Biden, the newspaper cast the information as a "smoking gun."

Enter the FBI.

Less than three weeks before one of the most contentious presidential campaigns in history, federal authorities are investigating whether the material supplied to the Post by Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, is part of a smoke bomb of disinformation pushed by Russia.

Since Joe Biden was elected, the media have repeatedly tamped down negative news tied to Hunter Biden, focusing instead on things like his memoir.

• MSNBC, "James Comer's rare skill: He can connect Hunter Biden to anything":

In other words, the ongoing presidential controversy, as far as Comer is concerned, might secretly be connected to the Democrat's son.

This is a weird theory, to be sure, but it's also quite predictable. I'm reminded of a column from The Washington Post's Dana Milbank, published last spring, examining Comer's signature preoccupation.

"So, to recap," Milbank explained, pointing to the GOP congressman's rhetoric, "Hunter Biden controls cobalt in Congo, fentanyl in Mexico, coronavirus in Wuhan, and war in Ukraine. It is just a matter of time until Republicans find a Hunter Biden angle in Jeffrey Epstein's demise and UFOs off the coast of California. 'Where's Hunter?' went the popular refrain at Trump rallies. Now we know. In the Republican imagination, Hunter is everywhere."

• New York Times, "White House Sets Ethics Plan for Sales of Hunter Biden's Art":

The White House has helped develop a system for Hunter Biden to sell pieces of his art without him, or anyone in the administration, knowing who bought them, the latest effort to respond to criticism over how President Biden's son makes his money. …

Mr. Biden has repeatedly defended his son’s work.

Hunter Biden has described painting as a form of therapy after a history of addiction to drugs and alcohol.

• NBC News, "Hunter Biden lawyer shoots down records request from House Republicans":

Hunter Biden's legal counsel on Thursday rejected a request from House Republicans for records and information related to his business dealings.

In a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., the lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the committee "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and oversight basis for requesting such records from Mr. Biden, who is a private citizen." Lowell said they would not comply with the Republicans' request but offered to meet with committee members "to see whether Mr. Biden has information that may inform some legitimate legislative purpose." …

In addition to Burisma, Republicans have also zeroed in on Hunter Biden's business dealings in China. During his father's vice presidency, Hunter Biden was involved with an investment firm that sought to raise money in China. In 2019, Trump urged China to investigate the Bidens and falsely accused Hunter of using a 2013 trip he took with his father to China for financial gain.

NOW: In recent days, the press has framed Hunter's legal troubles as a cross between a nothingburger and youthful mischief from the president's 53-year-old son.

• Associated Press, "Booze, drugs, a pet snake, and foreign dealings: Families can cause headaches for a White House":

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden whose plea deal on federal tax and gun charges was made public Tuesday, is by no means the first presidential relative whose personal troubles have brought unwelcome headlines and headaches for a White House. …

Sometimes the behavior is pure mischief, such as little Quentin Roosevelt (son of Teddy) running his toy wagon through a painting of a first lady. Or Alice Roosevelt, Quentin's sister, who swore, showed up at parties with her pet snake, and was so determined to smoke at the White House that she once called a news conference on its roof and lit a cigarette there.

• Politico on Friday offered readers tips on how to dismiss allegations against Hunter Biden:

— If you happen to be talking to a Hunter hater, tell them not to get their hopes up simply because prosecutors said that "[t]he investigation is ongoing." This could mean many different things (including that the government is still looking at other possible defendants), but by all outward appearances, the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter’s conduct is over.

— Despite the lack of evidence that the Justice Department missed serious criminal conduct, Republicans will likely continue their meandering inquiry into Hunter’s business dealings.

And since the latest news broke, the press has been primarily focused on denials from the Bidens and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

FLASHBACK: The response is a far cry from the way the media treated unconfirmed allegations against a different president in recent memory.

Published under: Burisma , China , Corruption , Hunter Biden , Hypocrisy , Joe Biden , Laptop , Media , Media Bias , Merrick Garland , Russia Collusion

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