Democrats trying to oust Joe Biden must first take on the acting commander in chief, Hunter Biden, but that’s easier said than done.
With the Biden family strongly in favor of Joe staying in office, staff and party officials tasked with forcing Joe Biden out of the running in November’s election would be well advised not to underestimate the eldest son.
While all the attention has been on Jill Biden, who has appeared on the cover of Vogue four times, and her emphatic assurances that Joe will be healthy and strong for the next four years, there has been a lack of attention on her eldest son.
But there’s a reason Hunter has stuck close to his dad: He helped prepare for the disastrous debate with his dad at Camp David, witnessed Annie Leibovitz’s proud family photoshoot afterwards, and then accompanied the president back to the White House, where he’s been ever since.
He reportedly acts as a “gatekeeper” for his father and helps draft speeches, while White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that he has been present at meetings between Joe and senior staff.
Hunter has always considered himself smarter than his father’s aides, some of whom have told reporters they were surprised by his presence at such a critical juncture.
“What the hell is going on!” a senior White House staffer told NBC News.
Hunter’s role has also raised concerns in the powerful House Intelligence Committee, with Republican Chairman Mike Turner demanding that he reveal whether he “received classified information.”
He last week demanded “full accountability” from White House chief of staff Jeff Zients. [of any] In what capacity Hunter Biden is participating in official meetings or conference calls, and whether those discussions contain classified information.”
“We will fight to the end”
Despite skeptical perceptions, Hunter has not tried to hide his influence, but rather has taken ownership, importance and responsibility. Cameras captured him looking ecstatic and networking like a pro in the East Room where his father was holding the Medal of Honor ceremony on Wednesday. As the president spoke via teleprompter, Hunter stiffened and stared intently at him, as if hoping he wouldn’t screw up.
Hunter has always exerted some control over his father, especially since the death of his brother Beau in 2015. But with Joe now in a state of confusion and unable to hide his cognitive impairment, Hunter is more in control than ever before.
This is bad news for the Democratic Party and disastrous for the country.
Those who know Hunter well say that despite his reputation as a drug-addicted loser, he is highly intelligent, manipulative and scheming, always acting for his own ends, which now depend more than ever on keeping his father in power.
“I know them on a family level. [will] “He needs to be dragged out,” one former friend said.
“I think the Bidens will fight to the end,” said another.[They] They only care about themselves and the Biden family.”
Hunter is also fearless and willing to fight to the death to get what he wants, making him a formidable opponent for hapless Democrats who believe they can woo Jill and Ashley Biden or appeal to Joe Biden’s loyalty to the party and his desire to protect his legacy.
Hunter has a personal stake in Joe remaining in office — he’s benefited from Joe’s power all his life — but his future is in jeopardy as he awaits sentencing on a firearms conviction in Delaware and a felony tax evasion trial in California looms.
After Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department were humiliated by two IRS whistleblowers who alleged to Congress that a five-year investigation into Hunter was delayed and obstructed to protect his father, Special Counsel David Weiss’s prosecutors have been ruthless.
‘Proving Ground’
Joe claims he won’t pardon his son, but no one believes him: the father’s pardon power is not something Hunter would give up easily.
Beyond protecting himself, Hunter will likely enjoy the sense of control he feels at the center of a constitutional crisis facing the country, said another former friend. He may see it as “a test of his leadership abilities, and believe his destiny is being realized.”
In other words, I’m reluctant to think that Mr. Hunter might see this situation as a dry run for his own political ambitions.
Various correspondence left on his abandoned laptop also suggests he did not like the Obamas and was angry that they had not shown enough respect for his father, who was vice president.
In his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” Hunter wrote that he didn’t want to go near the Obama White House because “I didn’t want to be in the position of going to a barbecue with the president and White House staff on a Sunday after reading that someone had betrayed my father. I knew I wouldn’t be able to contain my anger and keep quiet.”
If he felt that President Obama was now trying to remove his father, he would likely push back even harder.
Perhaps the only way to get rid of the Biden family fraud ring is to bribe them, or, more politely, offer the Democratic donor class golden parachutes of lucrative book deals, lavish presidential libraries, and guaranteed pardons for the entire legally embattled family.
“That would work,” said one former Biden aide.
