President Biden’s response to the Hunter Biden probe could damage him "pretty seriously" ahead of the 2024 election, NBC’s "Meet the Press" host implied.
Near the top of the hour, host Chuck Todd introduced the topic following Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing special counsel David Weiss to further investigate Hunter's activities. Todd contrasted the news with the multiple indictments against former President Donald Trump but acknowledged that the investigation into Hunter "has raised questions" for voters.
"President Biden’s handling of the case has raised questions at a time when voters already have doubts about his age and political standing. Biden brought his son to a state dinner just two days after the plea deal that has since collapsed was announced, and he has repeatedly defended him, denying wrongdoing altogether even though Hunter Biden himself has pled guilty," Todd said.
NBC political analyst Brendan Buck similarly suggested that the White House needs to take the scandal around the president’s son "more seriously" as the investigations become more public.
DAVID WEISS IS STARTING AN INVESTIGATION TO COVER FOR THE BIDENS: JUDGE JEANINE
"Yeah, I mean it’s basic politics. Trying to turn your opponent’s strength into a weakness. And one of the things that I think Joe Biden was elected to do was to clear out the mess in the White House, bring ethics and decency back and this is clearly an effort to do that. Now, I think the White House and the President's re-election need to take this a bit more seriously than what they're doing," Buck said.
He continued, "It was very easy for a long time for Democrats to just say, well that's stuff on the crazy right…and now if it's going to be in trial, it’s going to be in front-page news everywhere. I think they can appreciate that this could damage him pretty seriously."
The special counsel appointment, which has garnered intense criticism from Republicans, was announced by Garland at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Friday. The White House was not informed of Garland's decision before the news broke, according to a senior DOJ official.
Republicans have accused this appointment of attempting to stonewall congressional investigations into Hunter Biden following several testimonies against him and President Biden. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called it a "dumb political decision" on Fox News "America Reports" later that Friday.
LINDSEY GRAHAM SLAMS DOJ FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE: ‘A DUMB POLITICAL DECISION
"This was a political decision, not a legal decision. They're trying to put out a fire, and they just poured gasoline on it. Nobody in their right mind believes that making him a special counsel, Mr. Weiss, cleans up the mess that's been created. If it weren't for the House of Representatives, we wouldn't know any of this," Graham said.
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"This was a dumb political decision to try to solve a legal problem they've created for themselves. Nobody in America is going to buy that he becomes special counsel. All is well," he said.
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