Republicans are frustrated that their narrative about Hunter Biden is not sticking. They’re putting all their money on making Joe Biden just as corrupt as Donald Trump. It’s a stupid strategy and it’s not working. If they keep up the investigation, it could backfire. They’ve spent all their time on a dead-end investigation instead of delivering for the American people.
To hear conservative pundits tell it, the media is ignoring the biggest story in Washington and covering up for the Bidens. Nobody but the GOP base really believes that. They’ve been screaming about Hunter Biden for about four years and don’t have much to show for it.
Time and again, they promise to deliver blockbuster testimony just watch it fizzle out. The latest example was Hunter Biden’s business partner. House Republicans promised bombshell revelations and then the guy tells us that, no, Joe Biden never did anything inappropriate or illegal. Rep. James Comer, Chair of the House Oversight Committee investigating Hunter, overpromised and underdelivered yet again.
Republicans also have a huge blind spot. While they’re telling us that Joe Biden is dishonest and corrupt, they’re forgetting what Americans just lived through. Ivanka Trump, while serving as a member of her father’s administration, got a sweetheart deal on trademarks on goods and services in China, of all places. Her husband, Jared Kushner, also working for the administration, got a $2 billion investment from the Saudis just weeks after Trump left office. The family had a hotel stocked with people wanting favors just blocks from the White House while Trump was president. If the American people didn’t care about those deals, they certainly aren’t going care much about Hunter Biden’s business dealings, particularly when nobody is linking them directly to his father.
By ignoring the Trump family cashing in on the presidency and focusing on Hunter Biden, the Republicans are giving away the game. They aren’t interested in corruption. They are engaged in political gamesmanship. Their transparent efforts to make Joe Biden look bad through guilt-by-association is failing spectacularly because the GOP has ignored and even defended the Trump’s graft.
Their efforts to make Biden as callous as Trump is also failing because it’s not believable. Biden has been in the public eye for decades. He’s known as a man who cares deeply about people and works across the aisle to build friends and success. He spoke at John McCain’s memorial service. Hell, even Lindsay Graham said, “If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, you’ve got a problem.” Trying to make him out to be a callous grifter isn’t going work.
Trump, too, has been a public figure most of his life. Before he was president, he was known as a shady real estate developer who publicly bragged about his infidelities, hobnobbed with mobsters, went bankrupt in Atlantic City, and palled around with the likes of Jeffery Epstien. Still, half the country considers him a viable presidential candidate. Republicans are dramatically misreading the room.
The Republican tactics apparently have Democrats in Washington getting nervous. They should get out of their bubble. Most voters don’t care about Hunter and don’t really believe the hype. For that matter, most of them aren’t even hearing much about it. They’re too busy living their lives. What will matter for them a year from now is how they’re feeling about their safety, security, and future, both economically and otherwise. They won’t care what Hunter Biden did in Ukraine in 2018.
Americans have clearly made up their minds that they don’t care too much about vague corruption or moral failings in their leaders. Maybe it started with Bill Clinton. It really doesn’t matter. Donald Trump monetized the presidency, paid off a porn star for an affair, and the voters didn’t care. They certainly aren’t going to hold Joe Biden accountable for Hunter Biden.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Mills spent 20 years as a political and public affairs consultant. Republished from PoliticsNC.com.
