With accusations continuing to be hurled by President Trump at Hunter Biden, son of former vice president Joe Biden, it became apparent that at some point, the Biden campaign would have to respond. Hunter Biden has been silent for weeks now concerning his board position at Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, but that all changed this morning. Just days ago, Hunter resigned from another position he held on the board of a Chinese-backed private equity company as well, raising further questions about his foreign business ties.
As chance (or design) would have it, for better or worse, the Hunter Biden interview with ABC News is airing on the same day as the October Democratic debate tonight on CNN.
Here is a small clip from the interview, which began airing Tuesday morning on Good Morning America, and will conclude with more parts on World News Tonight:
So far, here's what various media outlets are saying about the interview and what it might mean for the debate later tonight.
Politico described the interview as a "combative defense" and says Hunter Biden forcefully pushed back accusations of any impropriety by himself or his father in relation to his business dealings in Ukraine:
In some of his first comments since House Democrats began their impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Hunter Biden defended his positions on the boards of two foreign companies in a combative interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
Biden appeared exasperated at points while defending himself against claims that have been debunked by fact checkers but that have been oft-repeated by the president and his surrogates.CNBC points out that while Hunter Biden says he did nothing wrong, he also admits that he believes he exercised poor judgment to create an appearance of wrongdoing which has hurt his father's candidacy:“It's crazy. They feel they have the license to say whatever they want. Feels to me like living in some kind of Alice in Wonderland where you're up on the real world, then you fall down the rabbit hole and the president is the Cheshire cat asking you questions about crazy things that don't have any resemblance to the reality of anything that has to do with me,” he told ABC News’ Amy Robach.
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, who currently is the focus of intense criticism by President Donald Trump and his allies over his foreign business relationships, in a new interview says he “did nothing wrong at all.”The Daily Beast notes that Biden's rivals, and some of his own surrogates, in the Democratic primary seem perplexed at the timing of the interview since it's airing on the same day as the October Democratic debate and how it appears to give credence to President Trump's claims:But Hunter Biden admitted in the sitdown with ABC News that “I think it was poor judgment on my part” to become involved in overseas ventures in Ukraine and China, which have complicated his father’s current run for the Democratic presidential nomination, and in turn led to an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
And when he was asked if he would have gotten a lucrative board position at the Ukraine natural gas company Burisma if his last name was not Biden, the 49-year-old Hunter said, “probably not.”
For the majority of the Democrats running for president, and even one notable surrogate to Joe Biden himself, there is a sense of confusion as to why Hunter is choosing now to finally speak up about the extent of his business ties in Ukraine and China.President Trump, perhaps hearkening back to his days of hammering President Obama over a birth certificate or pounding about Hillary's 30,000 lost emails, is good at latching on to something and not letting go. In this case, the more and more Trump repeats the accusations against Hunter Biden, and Joe Biden indirectly, the more and more it gets publicized without any semblance of an adequate response from the Biden campaign.“I wouldn’t have put Hunter on the air,” former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a top surrogate for Biden, told The Daily Beast. “I think the more you respond, the more you’re playing into Donald Trump.”
Rendell, who said was not involved in any discussions about the matter, wondered aloud about the thinking behind it, before doubling down. “There’s a danger in playing Trump’s game,” he said bluntly.
At some point, the Biden camp must have decided that they need to nip this story upfront, or at least try to, and prevent it from hurting Biden's primary chances against his strengthening rival Elizabeth Warren. It remains to be seen whether Hunter Biden's interview will help his father along those lines.
The October Democratic debate airs tonight at 8 PM ET on CNN and you can be assured this topic will be a lively discussion. The question will be how strongly Biden's competitors want to push it without appearing to be helping President Trump.
Posted from Election Central : https://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2019/10/hunter-biden-breaks-silence-on-ukraine-hours-before-democratic-debate/