Fresh off his conviction on three criminal gun charges in Delaware federal court, Hunter Biden is apparently spending more and more time at the White House.
In the wake of Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week, the first son has reportedly been vocal in encouraging his father to stay the course. And now it appears as though he is also sitting in on meetings in the West Wing with the president.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Charles C.W. Cooke and Michael Brendan Dougherty of National Review to discuss the family affair and what Hunter’s involvement signals.
The Meetings
NBC News was the first to report on Tuesday that Hunter has been joining meetings with President Biden and top aides since the first family returned to the White House from a gathering at Camp David over the weekend. Sources also told the outlet that the 54 year old recovering drug addict has been “talking to” senior White House staffers.
During a briefing later that day, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the reports. She tried to blame the perceived meddling on the holiday week.
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, the president, as you know, is very close to his family. This is a holiday week, Fourth of July, he spent time with his family as you all know and reporting at Camp David. Hunter came back with him and walked with him into, into, um, into that meeting, that prep, that speech prep. And you know, and he ended up spending time with his dad and his family that night. That is basically what happened. It is a week where there’s going to be more family members who are going to come to the, to the White House. I’m sure you’ll see some of them on Fourth of July. Many more are expected to be here.
But the reporter didn’t back down, instead inquiring as to “why the president’s son involved in meetings with senior advisors.” KJP was similarly cagey in her response.
JEAN-PIERRE: What I can say is that he came back with his dad from Camp David. He walked him into the speech prep and was in the room. That I can tell you. He was in the room.
The New York Post, meanwhile, independently confirmed the NBC News scoop and added that Hunter “doesn’t trust” the people around his father. “I think Hunter wants to be there, and POTUS isn’t going to say no,” a source told the Post.
‘Backup Biden’
Contrary to Jean-Pierre’s attempted brush off, Megyn said Hunter acting as a sort of “backup Biden” is “a big deal” and creates more questions than answers. “There is a real question about whether this is appropriate and why he is there,” she said. “If we were looking for shadow presidents, Hunter Biden was not on my list.”
When it comes to this reporting, Dougherty said one must not forget the ongoing investigations into Hunter’s foreign business dealings and the role is father played in facilitating them. “The press… [used to say] in 2019 that Hunter Biden is a troubled person, but none of his business dealings have anything to do with the… the potential president United States, Joe Biden. There’s no real connection here at all… Joe Biden loves his son so much,” he recalled. “And now it’s, ‘Well, Hunter Biden, of course, is just waltzing into meetings with cabinet officials or other high level senior staff.'”
Beyond that, however, Dougherty believes Hunter’s presence speaks to just how much things have changed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “The circle has tightened so much the Biden family doesn’t feel that they can trust the White House staff to be on their side in this anymore because of the leaks that have been happening,” he added.
Hunter is awaiting sentencing in his gun case and will face trial on tax charges in California this fall, and Cooke believes his interests in this matter are self-serving. “Hunter Biden… doesn’t just want him to stay in, he needs him to stay in because he wants a pardon,” he concluded. “He recognizes that his fortunes in his father’s are inextricable.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Cooke and Dougherty by tuning in to episode 829 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.