President Joe Biden is having a rough week due to two significant challenges to his reelection: his son Hunter’s legal difficulties and the widely held notion the 80-year-old is too old for reelection.
Biden will have plenty to do in his day job. This unprecedented strike between the United Auto Workers and major US automakers will bring him off the bench on Friday. It’s difficult for a president with labour ties to also defend the broader economy with his own kind of economic policy, which he calls “Bidenomics.”
It’s understandable if he’s been sidetracked this week by events that are more personal to him.
Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, was indicted on federal gun charges on Thursday in Delaware. He is accused of lying about his history of drug usage and breaking a firearms regulation when he purchased a weapon in 2018. Hallie Biden, Hunter’s late brother Beau’s wife, discarded the firearm later that day behind a supermarket. At the time, Hallie and Hunter were having an affair.
The indictment, with annotations, can be read here.
The legal issues facing Hunter Biden
Although separate investigations on tax evasion and foreign business dealings have not yet led to charges, the president’s son could end up in prison because of the sad and sordid family drama of addiction, according to Delaware US attorney David Weiss, who was elevated to the position of special counsel earlier this year to guarantee independence from the US Department of Justice.
However, House Republicans intend to delve deeply as they search for more evidence during an official impeachment inquiry authorised by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this week. Weiss has found no basis to criminally charge Hunter Biden over his foreign business dealings, and no direct connection has been drawn between the son’s business interests and the father’s policy positions.
Continuing to pursue impeachment
Even if the impeachment never happens and the years of investigation turn up no wrongdoing by President Biden, the ongoing probe will keep Hunter Biden in the minds of people who may be perplexed as to why the president would allow his family to act in such a shady fashion.
In case any Democrats are tempted to write off the effort out of hand, they should remember that McCarthy boasted in 2015 that the extensive House investigations centred on Hillary Clinton harmed her politically. While she was secretary of state, he was discussing inquiries into the assassination of a US ambassador in Benghazi, Libya. A similar result might be achieved by the current GOP’s attempt to link Biden to his son.
Americans’ views about Hunter Biden’s company
Most Americans are not persuaded, even if there is no evidence linking President Biden to the millions of dollars made by Hunter Biden and other family members from investments in China, the Ukraine, and elsewhere.
AWN poll performed by SSRS in late August, before the gun-related charge was brought down but after a previous plea deal fell through, found that 61% of the public believes Biden had some role in his son’s business affairs while serving as vice president. Those who believe the president was involved back then tend to agree that the actions were wrong.
It’s unclear, though, if Americans who don’t already loathe the president will be moved by the Hunter Biden scandal. His dismal job approval rating and worries about the economy may end up hurting him more in the long run.
The ageing problem is here to stay.
In fact, the poll’s findings on how the public sees Biden’s relationship with his son are far from the vice president’s top concern. That’s how old he is.
According to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, “Biden’s age isn’t just a Fox News trope; it’s been the subject of dinner-table conversations across America this summer,” urging Biden to step down immediately so that someone else can run in the 2024 race and win.
AWN found that only 24% of respondents said that Vice President Biden has the “stamina and sharpness to serve effectively,” hardly ringing endorsement for a president who returned from Asia last week with legislative victories but gave the impression of being disoriented during a press conference.
desire for a change
Third of registered Democrats and those who lean Democratic said they would vote for Biden if the Democrats ran in 2024. Two-thirds of the population prefers a different candidate, however nearly no one can name them.
In June, Vice President Biden hosted a state dinner for the Prime Minister of India, and Ignatius was invited since he had earned the President’s esteem. Likewise, Hunter Biden was there.
Even Ignatius agrees with the gushing praise for Biden’s presidency, calling him “successful” and “effective.”
“What I admire most about President Biden is that in a polarised nation, he has governed from the centre out, as he promised in his victory speech,” Ignatius said, going on to praise Biden’s domestic accomplishments and foreign policy leadership.
Ignatius, however, worries that if Biden and Harris were to run together again, it “risks undoing his greatest achievement — which was stopping Trump.”
But who is it?
Among Democratic primary voters, Biden’s age and the desire for a younger candidate are the top two issues.
Democratic voters who wanted someone other than Joe Biden for vice president overwhelmingly chose “just someone besides Joe Biden.” In fact, older than Biden is Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the most popular specific alternatives.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is seeking for reelection to Congress but stood down as leader, spoke to AWN’s Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night, revealing her lack of faith in Harris to take over the mantle.
Cooper questioned Pelosi on whether or not Harris would make a good running mate for Biden.
Pelosi stated, “He thinks so and that’s what matters,” while also praising Harris for being “politically astute.”
Pelosi has stated that the Democrats will support Biden, and she agrees that he is their greatest chance of defeating Trump.
“He has great experience and wisdom,” Pelosi remarked.
According to AWN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere, the Biden campaign is working on a long-term strategy and blaming the media for “what they view as validating concerns about Biden’s age and about Republican claims of Hunter Biden’s corruption by covering those concerns, despite what they argue is a lack of evidence.”
He claims that they are counting on a data-driven approach in pivotal states to sway undecided voters away from Trump.
In 2020, Biden was an effective finisher.
For example, in the 2020 primary he suffered crushing defeat in Iowa and New Hampshire before riding a tide of support from moderates in southern states to a stunning victory against several younger candidates with more fervent fan bases.
After four years of competition, Biden finally broke through. There’s hardly much to imply that, as Ignatius says, Obama should let some of those same folks vote in the primary now.
The true nature of this election’s debate remains unclear.
Biden will have a hard time winning if the election is seen as a referendum on the president’s fitness because of his advanced age and because he permitted his son to make millions in conditions that arouse suspicions even in the absence of evidence of crime.
Voters may view someone who attempted to overturn an election as unpopular for a variety of reasons.
