It’s Business Insider. That’s who tried to turn Donald Trump Jr. into the GOP’s ‘Hunter Biden.’ The publication, which has a penchant for doing shoddy work, tried to claim that because the president’s son is a partner in an investment firm, 1789 Capital, that has done multiple deals, it makes him a little like Hunter Biden. It’s laughably false to start. Second, not to be crude, but there’s no crack cocaine, hookers, shameful selling of government access, or quid pro quo nonsense going on here.
The outlet came after Barstool Sport’s Dave Portnoy, who, like Mr. Trump, likely never got a phone call for comment or clarification. As Breitbart’s Matt Boyle wrote in his piece, it gets even messier when the company that owns Politico and Business Insider, Axel Springer, hired a Trump-aligned lobbyist,t Brian Ballard, who Politico had reported was hired to “engage” with the Trump administration. Townhall reported on the absurd hit job against Don Jr., Monday. Breitbart had more Tuesday:
…the article from Business Insider’s Bethany McLean says: “Don Jr.’s involvement in 1789 bears an eerie resemblance to what Trump blasted Hunter Biden for doing: trading on his father’s name to win lucrative business deals with countries like Ukraine and China.”
That’s where things get particularly absurd. First off, unlike Hunter Biden, Trump Jr. is not a convicted felon who needed a pardon from his father the president to avoid federal prison time. Secondly, Trump Jr.’s firm is a venture capital firm focused exclusively on acquiring minority stakes in exclusively American-owned companies—not in companies based in foreign countries where there is a major conflict of interest.
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What’s particularly egregious about the Business Insider story, though, is the reporter on the byline—McLean—could have easily figured out any of this had she just reached out to Trump Jr. for comment rather than rushing her hit piece to the presses. The article says that “[b]oth the Trump Organization and 1789 declined requests for comment.” But McLean did not, as Business Insider reporters have traditionally done when doing stories on Trump Jr., call Trump Jr.’s political advisers Andy Surabian and Arthur Schwartz. The organization has regularly reached out to them for comment on previous stories, and clearly did not for this one.
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Interestingly, Axel Springer hired the lobbying firm of Brian Ballard—a top Washington lobbyist who has had on-again-off-again relations with Trump. Ballard was reportedly on the outs with Trump in a big way a few weeks ago. But he has reportedly since made up with the president and met with him recently along with Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Interestingly, it was Politico—the fellow Axel Springer outlet along with Business Insider—that reported last week that Ballard was on the outs with the White House. In its story, Politico disclosed that Axel Springer is its owner and that Axel Springer has hired Ballard to represent it in lobbying matters before the administration.
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Here’s where things get even dicier for Axel Springer: Business Insider did not, in its story on Trump Jr., disclose to its readers as Politico had done in its story that Axel Springer is its owner. The organization also did not include any disclaimer that Ballard was lobbying on behalf of its parent company before the White House and administration.
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The piece added that the reason behind the anti-Don. Jr piece could be that the Department of Government Efficiency ended millions in contracts to Axel Springer, hence the shoddy, haphazard joke of a piece trying to make Trump Jr. into the Right’s ‘Hunter Biden.’
Talk about a swampy mess: The firm that owns Business Insider issues the code red on Trump Jr., who also hired a Trump-aligned firm to represent them on matters involving the Trump administration. They disclose their ownership ties in one outlet but not the other.
First, it’s an exercise in how the liberal media is outright garbage at doing their jobs. Second, it’s a reminder for why the media is hated so much. These types of operations have driven millions to alternate information ecosystems. All the talk about free speech, the First Amendment, and speaking truth to power, which is nauseatingly plastered over NPR, Washington Post, and other outlet’s fundraising materials, is and will always be viewed as a scam. Sure, they can trash whoever they want, but please—it’s not because they do it out of some patriotic duty or necessity to hold those accountable. It’s about the Democrat media complex doing its thing to help its pals. You know this already.
The only difference now is that legacy media outlets are dying. Their influence wanes beneath the quicksand, where their panic porn is outright mocked, rejected, or soaked in with extreme scrutiny. Take the Trump-Qatar 747 story, which is being framed as a national security issue and bribery case. It’s not. Boeing can’t complete the new Air Force One on time, and Trump sought a defense contractor to purchase a 747 that the Qatari royal family once used. That’s it. Instead, it’s being treated like a Clinton Foundation transaction, which it’s not. That initial story didn’t last 12 hours before the facts blew it apart.
That’s two stories now where the media got whacked by their boomerangs. You people just can’t beat us. We’re better.
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