There's been no shortage of articles from the mainstream media about Republicans pouncing or seizing. On Sunday, however, NBC News put forth a particularly delusional take, though, with regards to the headline that "Republicans up the personal attacks on Biden and his family." It only goes downhill from there.
"President Joe Biden’s family story has long been one of his greatest strengths politically. Republicans are starting to think they can turn it into a liability," the opening paragraph begins, framing it as an issue that Republican presidential candidates are supposedly "up[ping]."
The article's framing of Biden's relationship with his family is even more absurd given that the article speaks to not just Republicans' referencing that there is a seventh grandchild that President Joe Biden, but that the relationship is seen as "one of his greatest strengths politically." Here's how the article frames the matter of 4-year-old Navy Joan Roberts, the daughter of Hunter Biden:
The 2024 presidential candidates were referencing the child fathered by the president’s son, Hunter, and a woman named Lunden Roberts. Hunter Biden, who has described his relationship with Roberts as a fling while he was battling addiction, recently settled a much-publicized paternity case with Roberts in an Arkansas court.
But in recent comments, the president didn’t count the child among his grandchildren — making him the target of criticism and the subject of ongoing conservative news coverage.
...
That they have now boiled over to the presidential campaign trail and focused on this young girl and her role in the Biden family underscores how Republicans are leaning into a deeply personal issue for the president — and that it isn’t going away. Republicans say it reveals the president’s true colors and exposes the hypocrisy of a president who has made family a central tenet of his political persona.
...
The president himself often speaks of his grandchildren publicly and has said he talks of his close relationship to them.
“I have six grandchildren and I’m crazy about them,” Biden said at a Take Your Child to Work Day event at the White House in April. “I speak to them every single day.”
Whether the president should acknowledge the grandchild has also been the subject of conservative talk shows and news panels. Last week, Fox News’ Sean Hannity dispatched a reporter to Batesville, Ark., whose whole report involved asking people on the street how they felt about Biden’s granddaughter and the president “refusing to acknowledge her existence.” In another report, Fox News cameras staked out the entrance to the U.S. Capitol and asked members of Congress whether the president should publicly count the girl among his grandchildren.
It's curious how the article considers it to be a matter of "ongoing conservative news coverage," given that earlier this month Maureen Dowd had an opinion piece published in The New York Times--neither of which could be considered "conservative"--that called the president out for neglecting to even acknowledge Navy Joan.
As even a liberal like Dowd could see, it's a matter of common decency to call the president out, especially given that he claims to be such a family man.
NBC even acknowledges and links to this column, despite claiming throughout that it is a conservative narrative.
The article seems to even defend Biden with the line that "[t]he president himself often speaks of his grandchildren publicly and has said he talks of his close relationship to them," going on to quote him for saying he has "six children."
There's also a discussion between Hunter Biden and the child's mother, Lunden Roberts. That settlement involves lower support payments, Roberts dropping her request that the child takes the Biden family name, and the child being gifted with Hunter's paintings. "The settlement includes child support, a college fund and an undisclosed number of Hunter Biden’s paintings, which have drawn scrutiny because they fetched up to $500,000 apiece," is how NBC frames it.
That's not quite the whole story, though. It is because the buyers are not disclosed that there are ethics concerns. Even the ethics chief from the Obama administration has spoken to issues raised.
Given that this is NBC News, there's of course a mention of former and potentially future President Donald Trump. "That’s even as the bulk of the party has offered a muted response to GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s many legal troubles, including having been found liable for sexual abuse, and criminally indicted twice with a third case looming," the article reads with regards to how the RNC has been critiquing Biden and doesn't appear ready to stop any time soon.
Say what you will about Trump's chances against Biden in the general election, but polls show he's currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Polling also shows that the American people find the charges to be politicized.
When it comes to Republicans hammering Biden about not acknowledging his seventh grandchild, it is a narrative worth keeping up with, especially as Biden himself promotes himself as a decent family man, with NBC looking to back him up. The article, did, however, include comments from former Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who perhaps put it best.
"It runs counter to the narrative that he tries to create. He talks about being such a great family man, how he calls all of his grandchildren, how he loves his family, how he’s a devout Catholic," Spicer had said in an interview. "And yet, this doesn’t portend. And the thing that’s weird about it is there’s nothing to be ashamed of."
As important a narrative as this is for Republicans to keep up with, it's hardly the only one to do with Hunter Biden.
Even with the mention of Trump, there's no mention of Hunter Biden's shady business dealings, and how they implicate other members of the Biden family, including the president himself from when he was serving as vice president. Questions also abound when it comes to the plea deal that will allow him to serve no jail time.
By the day, damming information keeps coming out about Hunter Biden.
The NBC News article was the subject of a post from our friends at Twitchy, with the headline fittingly reading "NBC 'News': Republicans pounce on Biden's amazing family story." The List Twitter account flagged it for mockery and the tweet was thoroughly ratioed as well.
President Biden’s family story has long been one of his greatest strengths politically.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 23, 2023
Republicans are starting to think they can turn it into a liability. https://t.co/cVOYUQyPzN
✍️uh✍️oh✍️ https://t.co/UKoce6dvM9 pic.twitter.com/2Ak9TvtrKK
— The List (@ListComesForAll) July 23, 2023
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