Monday brought the closed door testimony from Hunter Biden's former business associate Devon Archer. The transcript is expected to come later this week, though the House Oversight Committee and others who spoke to sources have shared some takeaways. Leading up to that testimony, several Democratic lawmakers appeared on multiple Sunday shows, where they bent over backwards to defend President Joe Biden, claiming that he was not involved in the business deals with his son, Hunter Biden.
Perhaps the least surprising defense came from Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), given that he co-chairs the president's reelection campaign. Before he could get the chance to speak to the matter, though, while on NBC News' "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd had to throw in some of that mainstream media biased narratives, as he sought to emphasize that "the Hunter Biden situation" was as big as it was due to Republican priorities.
"Let me start with the Hunter Biden situation, and I understand that, you know, you believe this is all – all being emphasized due to politics the Republicans – the House Republicans are doing," Todd tried to claim, going on to ask Coons "do you think it would behoove the President for him to come out and say, 'hey, I had no business dealings with my son. My son's issues are my son's issues.' Do you think he needs to say that more directly? Because there's a lot of people that believe something--something else happened here."
Coons was firm in his claims that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has "come forward with not one shred of evidence tying President Biden to any of this." Further, not only did Coons use the talking point we've heard for far too long, that David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney in the case, was appointed by former President Donald Trump, he claimed to be "encouraged" that "Hunter Biden's come forward [and] taken responsibility."
Given how Hunter Biden has treated his own four-year-old daughter, that's some definition of "responsibility" that Coons has there.
Recommended
Democrat Senator Chris Coons claims there's "not one shred of evidence tying President Biden" to Hunter Biden's corrupt business deals.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 30, 2023
There are emails, texts, voicemails, photos, sworn witness testimony, and more. pic.twitter.com/6XEctcTAfo
In answering Todd's question, Coons casually offered "I don't think President Biden needs to say anything more than he has," adding "they're going to accuse him of all sorts of stuff" in his back-and-forth with Todd.
Evidence abounds, from Hunter's own laptop with emails, texts, voicemails, and photos, not to mention the testimonies of people associated with him.
Coon's response completely leaves out Archer's testimony. Although the closed door meeting took place after Coon's appearance on "Meet the Press," that testimony had been previewed in the days before by the New York Post's Miranda Devine. According to Archer, then Vice President Biden was in contact with Hunter's business associates "as many as two dozen times."
Todd again tried to push Coons on if Biden should speak more as the back-and-forth continued, to which the senator still claimed the president didn't need to. "I think he's been perfectly clear," he doubled down on, even going on to pivot to the 2024 presidential election and why Biden is suited to be elected once more.
"And I think, frankly, what makes the American people turn towards President Biden in the reelection campaign is that he has spent his time focusing on what they're concerned about. Not relitigating the 2020 election, not focused on grievance politics, as you showed in Erie last night. President Biden has delivered on an astonishing array of things that Trump promised to do, but Biden has actually done," Coons claimed.
Further, when it comes to Coons' claims that Biden has "been perfectly clear," it's worth pointing out how the narrative has changed from the White House. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre used to claim that Biden did not talk to his son about such business dealings, that is if she was willing to provide any kind of answer at all on the matter. Now she's changed her tune, not only claiming that Biden wasn't involved, but attempting to gaslight the American people into believing the narrative is no different from what it once was.
Biden himself was particularly aggressive on the campaign trail in insisting he never talked to his son about the business deals. As president, he merely laughs off such questions.
I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 24, 2023
"I have never discussed, with my son or my brother or anyone else, anything having to do with their businesses. Period."
LIAR.pic.twitter.com/EMT0eXipLL
FLASHBACK TO 2019:
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 24, 2023
Biden claims there is "zero, zero, zero" evidence of corruption against his son, Hunter, or that he spoke to him about his overseas business deals.
He is, of course, lying through his teeth.pic.twitter.com/C7DBUigJnX
REPORTER: "Did you lie about never speaking to Hunter about his business deals?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 26, 2023
BIDEN: "No!"
*walks away* pic.twitter.com/kzgINR7n1n
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) likewise sought to defend the president during his appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," though host Kasie Hunt didn't bring up the topic until the end of the segment, as she framed it as "another thing that's bedeviling Democrats, particularly in the White House."
To Hunt's credit, though, she did mention the change in narrative from the White House. "Now the White House is saying -- quote -- 'The president was not in business with his son,'" going on to offer that "that seems to be a change from when they previously said that Joe and Hunter Biden never spoke about it," as she asked Murphy "do you have any concerns about this?"
Murphy responded that "I don't have any concerns" and "I think this is a witch-hunt."
While he did say that "if Hunter Biden has broken the law he should be held accountable for it," Murphy still unbelievably offered "I don't think he's being treated any differently than anyone else who's been accused of the crimes that he's been accused of." The senator then went for another talking point we've heard ad nauseam from the Left, which is that Hunter's "had a lot of trouble in his life. And Joe Biden has been open about it and I think has shown, as any caring father would, a lot of concern to try to help Hunter Biden recover."
Like his colleague Sen. Coons had claimed on another Sunday show, Murphy too stood by the president in a way that doesn't exactly line up with the facts. "There has never been any evidence that Joe Biden has compromised his office. In fact, to the very opposite," he said, adding that "the evidence around the allegations Republicans have made about Hunter Biden's involvement in Ukraine suggests that Joe Biden was working to root out corruption in Ukraine, as he consistently did as vice president. And I think those facts will continue to come out."
"Those facts will continue to come out" indeed, thanks to investigations from the Republican-controlled House and efforts from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in the Democratic-controlled Senate. And they likely won't be too kind to Joe Biden.
Democrat Senator Chris Murphy on the Biden corruption investigation: "This is a witch hunt ... there has never been any evidence that Joe Biden has compromised his office!" pic.twitter.com/drDMiOgMuV
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 30, 2023
As Julio covered earlier on Monday, Murphy also laughably claimed that there was "zero evidence" that the 80-year-old Biden couldn't run for another term.
Arguably the most noteworthy defense continues to come from Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), though, who will get his own VIP piece.
