The continual news generated by Hunter Biden and his legal conflicts damages President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign with undue controversy and distractions, Democrats openly complain.
Hunter Biden’s chaos amid his father’s reelection campaign is just one more communications problem with which the president’s campaign staff must contend. Joe Biden’s age, mental fitness, and sluggish economy seemingly sunk his approval ratings to historic lows:
- FiveThirtyEight: Biden is the least popular president in modern U.S. history.
- CNN Poll: 67 percent disapprove of Biden’s economy, top 2024 issue.
- Redfield & Wilton Strategies: A majority of Democrats are “concerned” about Biden’s ability to perform his job due to his age.
“I have a pit in my stomach about it,” a Democrat strategist who worked on Clinton’s 2016 campaign told the Messenger about the chaos surrounding Hunter Biden. “The email controversy was silly but it was made to be a distraction and it worked.”
“This Hunter story has the legs to ruin things for Biden,” the Democrat strategist added.
Democrat strategist Brad Bannon told the Messenger Joe Biden’s son is just one more challenge facing the president’s reelection campaign: “Hunter Biden isn’t the biggest political problem that his father faces but the situation is an unwelcome distraction for an embattled president burdened by concerns about the economy and age.”
.@alexmarlow on the big tell from Hunter's whiny press conference: "When he said that my father was not *financially* involved in my business, that means my father was involved in my business." https://t.co/02Ocdht7pF
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 14, 2023
“The controversy about Hunter Biden’s financial dealings might play the same role for Republicans that Hillary Clinton’s emails did in 2016,” Bannon noted.
House Oversight Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who is leading the Democrats’ opposition to the impeachment inquiry, refused to say whether Hunter Biden hurts Joe Biden’s campaign. “I don’t know whether or not it’s hurting him,” he said. “I hope that the American people are able to see past it.”
“They figure this is their best shot, to create a dark cloud over the Biden family and hope that that affects Joe,” he added.
Recent polling shows Americans are highly skeptical of Hunter and Joe Biden:
- ABC News/Ipsos: A plurality of Americans are not confident about how the Justice Department handled the investigation into Hunter Biden.
- Yahoo/YouGov: A majority of voters believe President Joe Biden committed a crime with Hunter Biden.
- TIPP: 63 percent say Joe Biden violated FARA by assisting Hunter Biden in Ukraine deal.
Follow Wendell Husebø on “X” @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
