Tipsheet

NBC News Puts Out a Different Kind of Take on Joe Biden's 'Brand'

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  August 09, 2023 11:45 AM

Last week, the House Oversight Committee heard testimony from Devon Archer, a former business associate of Hunter Biden. According to takeaways and transcripts from the Committee, Archer detailed how then Vice President Joe Biden was "the brand" of his son's shady business dealings. Questions and concerns abound, especially after we've been repeatedly told, by an irate Biden and White House, that he wasn't involved. This was after the narrative changed from how Biden supposedly hadn't even talked to Hunter about said business dealings. 

NBC News went with a different narrative on Biden's "brand," however, with an article published on Tuesday morning. One of the co-authors of the piece, Jonathan Allen tweeted it out to strong reaction. 

The sense of the Biden "brand" is discussed in how the president is supposedly a family man and Archer's testimony, although the latter isn't mentioned in depth until the second half of the piece, and it still seeks to downplay any involvement from the president. Additionally, there's a narrative of "Republicans also say..." that's apparent throughout. 

Also included is a laughable statement from a DNC spokesperson, Ammar Moussa:

“Republicans have spent four years and millions of dollars spreading lies about President Biden and his family because it’s easier than talking about their deeply unpopular and extreme agenda,” said Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee.

“It hasn’t worked, and it never will, because Americans know that Joe Biden is a fundamentally decent person who loves his family and whose devotion to his country has made him one of the most effective presidents in a generation,” Moussa said.

To call Biden "a fundamentally decent person who loves his family" is called into question considering that he only just acknowledged his seventh grandchild--Hunter Biden's daughter--last month in a statement provided to People as part of a Friday night news dump. He's also gotten clearly meaner and ornery with age and at 80-year-old very much looks and sounds like our nation's oldest president. Earlier last month, Axios published a piece highlighting Biden's temper. 

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That Moussa claimed Biden's "devotion to his country has made him one of the most effective presidents in a generation" is not only also absurd, it calls to mind another aspect of the article, which is that even Biden's fellow Democrats don't see him in such a way. 

They're not always willing to go on record, though, as illustrated by a particularly noteworthy quote from an anonymous strategist:

“The recent revelations with Hunter Biden really are in conflict with the current perception of his image of being squeaky clean,” Mike Noble, the CEO of the nonpartisan Noble Predictive Insights and a pre-eminent pollster in the Southwest, said of the president. 

Noble said that in his firm’s trackers — including in the key 2024 states of Arizona and Nevada — Biden’s image regularly tests better than his job approval.

“I think this potentially impacts his image,” he said of the various criticisms of Biden and his family.

Democrats who are concerned about the possible political damage to Biden’s reputation are more reticent, and they privately note that this GOP narrative is different from criticism of the president’s age — 80 — or his handling of the economy because it’s so central to the type of leadership he’s offering voters.

“There’s a reason why his numbers are the way they are,” said one Democratic strategist, referring to the president’s low approval rating among Americans. Like other Democrats, the strategist requested anonymity to avoid retribution from fellow partisans. 

“It’s not just the economy,” the strategist said of possible reasons behind Biden’s low job approval. “It’s not because people are just concerned about inflation. It’s not just because people are concerned about his age. His brand has been damaged by him and those around him.”

Nodding to the fear Democrats have of being blamed for weakening their own candidate — or incurring his wrath — the strategist emphatically declined to put his name to his remarks: “On the record? F--- no! Are you crazy?” he said.

To the chagrin of the Biden administration and fellow Democrats, which even leftist media outlets have taken note of, Americans are not giving Biden good marks on the economy, which the unnamed strategist accurately noted people are also concerned about. 

RealClearPolitics (RCP) currently has Biden at an overall job approval rating of 41.2 percent while 54.3 percent disapprove. Worse, 38.4 percent approve of his handling of the economy, while 58.1 percent disapprove. On inflation, just 33.7 percent approve, while 62 percent disapprove. 

Since NBC News published the article in question, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) released bank statements about the Biden family. 

"According to the memo released by Comer, the Biden family received over $20 million in foreign transactions and the payments were distributed to multiple members," Katie mentioned in her coverage. "The payments were hidden through shell companies and funneled through Hunter Biden's business partners, including Devon Archer. Archer and Biden earned $6.5 million from Burisma alone."

As of 11:30am, it does not appear that NBC News has covered such breaking news.

This Biden family narrative is something of a habit for the outfit. NBC News also covered Biden's supposed devotion to his family in a piece last month, which was also written by Natasha Korecki, the other co-author of this more recent piece. That piece was similarly derided over social media.