“My son did nothing wrong,” Joe Biden has proudly declared when asked about Hunter’s lucrative influence-peddling deals in Ukraine and China. Most of the media clearly agree, or at least act as if they do.
The public sees it differently. “Hunter Biden has engaged in corrupt business practices,” agreed 45% of registered voters, according to a new Washington Examiner/YouGov poll, compared to only 32% who said Hunter has not engaged in corrupt business practices. Nearly a quarter, 23%, said they didn’t know.
It’s unsurprising that so many people don’t know since major media outlets have made a deliberate, and at times open, decision to ignore or deny Hunter’s corrupt business practices. CNN host Anderson Cooper said during one Democratic debate that “President Trump has falsely accused your son of doing something wrong while serving on a company board in Ukraine.”
But it wasn’t a false accusation by Trump. And Joe Biden was wrong to say his son had done nothing wrong. Hunter Biden was employed by Burisma, an oligarch-connected Ukrainian energy company, and a regime-connected energy firm called CEFC China Energy. In both of these enterprises, Hunter was very clearly cozying up to companies tied to foreign governments and trading on his father’s name. This is corrupt influence peddling. It’s not really ambiguous.
To what extent did Joe Biden play along or benefit from Hunter’s deals? That’s an open question. But that Joe Biden is fine with his son’s influence peddling, and that the largest media companies are willing to defend it, reflects an acceptance corruption from Democrats.
People who aren’t dedicated to Biden’s reelection generally perceive this corruption or at least worry about it. Among independents in our survey, 45% see Hunter’s dealings as corrupt, compared to 27% seeing them as not corrupt, and 28% who aren’t sure. Even 11% of Democrats say Hunter has engaged in corrupt business deals.
It’s obvious Hunter was peddling influence to corrupt foreign companies. It’s telling to see who’s fine with it.
