A guilty verdict for Hunter Biden means a new conundrum for Trump

John Bowden
·4-min read

Hunter Biden is guilty.

The president’s lone surviving son, 54, walked out of a federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday guilty on three felony counts, a day after jurors began their deliberations.

President Joe Biden abruptly changed his schedule and flew to Wilmington after the news broke. In a statement, he vowed to accept the outcome of the trial, and promised not to grant his son a presidential pardon.

“As I said last week, I am the president, but I am also a dad,” the president said in his statement. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today.”

“So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery,” the president continued. “As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.”

The quiet support of Biden and his wife, Dr Jill Biden, stands in contrast to the mud-slinging which has played out on the sidelines of a Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts related to an effort to conceal a hush money scheme through falsified business documents. Prosecutors there successfully convinced a jury that Trump committed his violations in an attempt to benefit his 2016 campaign for president. He was found guilty all counts after months of scrutiny and controversy.

The lack of a unified response from Republicans on Tuesday as the Hunter Biden verdict played out illustrated one thing, however: Donald Trump and the Magasphere were largely unprepared for this outcome. Especially because it came in such close succession with Trump’s conviction in New York, it put the Trump-loving side of the GOP in a tough spot.

Trump himself — usually quick to comment on every twist and turn in politics — had not even commented on Truth Social hours after the verdict was announced. His campaign issued a brief statement; press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the trial “a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family”.

Democrats have just been handed a clear counter to Trump’s argument that the justice system is treating him unfairly or holding him to a different standard.

It won’t be enough to convince the former president’s most diehard loyalists, the thousands who still enthusiastically flock to his rallies across the country (most recently in Las Vegas, where a half dozen were hospitalized due to heat-related concerns). It also may not convince some voters who are casting their ballot solely with their wallets and the economy in mind, should Democrats fail to make their case on fighting inflation and bringing back jobs. But what Tuesday’s verdict does represent is a convenient shield for the president and his surrogates as Trump’s legal woes continue through the election season this year.

Whether Joe Biden himself can deliver that message effectively is another story entirely.

Across the country, one very important dynamic is playing out at the state level: Democratic candidates are outperforming Joe Biden in key states. A new Marist College poll of the Ohio Senate race released Tuesday had incumbent Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, up 5 percentage points over Trump-backed challenger Bernie Moreno. Given the typical advantage of incumbents, that means that Republicans have a ways to go in the state.

Elsewhere, Jon Tester has generally led his Republican challenger in rosy-red Montana. And Ruben Gallego continues to lead Kari Lake, the Trump-backed election-denier, in Arizona, while Trump himself generally leads the president in polling of the state.

The first Biden-Trump debate is scheduled for just over two weeks from today. Will both candidates show up? Will it be another 2020-esque shouting match? The importance of that first contest is rising as the stakes of this election — which now may well include Trump’s legal future — keep ramping up.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • PM Anwar hints at boon for civil servants before Budget 2025 tabling

    PUTRAJAYA, June 26 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has today hinted that civil servants will once again receiv...

  • Guan Eng: New book on Pakatan administration fruit of Dr Mahathir’s ‘half truths and falsehoods’

    KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng today dismissed the book Shattered Hopes on the abortive Pakatan Harap...

  • Zelensky sacks commander ‘who killed more Ukrainians than any Russian general’

    Volodymyr Zelensky has sacked a top commander accused of “killing more Ukrainians than any Russian general”.

  • US ambassador accuses China of stirring anti-American sentiment

    The United States’ ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, is accusing Beijing of going against its agreement to repair relations between Chinese and U.S. citizens. After President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met last year, the duo agreed to boost engagement among regular citizens, but Burns told The Wall Street Journal that China has actively…

  • India's Rahul Gandhi faces new test in revived fortunes

    Once dismissed as an "empty suit", perennial Indian premier-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi emerged from his third consecutive election defeat with his reputation enhanced and his party back from the political wilderness.Leaked US embassy cables disparagingly referred to him as an "empty suit", and Modi dismissed him as a dynast more interested in luxury and self-indulgence than fighting to helm the world's biggest democracy. 

  • George Conway Tells Trump What The Rest Of The World Really Thinks About Him

    He also revealed what will happen if Joe Biden provokes Trump at this week's debate.

  • PAC confirms arrest of two senior officers by MACC in May linked to Felcra probe

    KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 ― The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has confirmed that the arrest of two senior officers of a st...

  • Ex-Kuwaiti Hornets to join RMAF fleet, Su-30MKMs to be upgraded to ‘Super Flankers’ under bold, ambitious plan

    Game changer – The RMAF’s capabilities will undergo a massive transformation under a bold and ambitious new roadmap that will see the introduction of a fifth-generation stealth fighter, upgraded Su-30MKM Flankers, and additional F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters from ex-Kuwaiti stocks. The post Ex-Kuwaiti Hornets to join RMAF fleet, Su-30MKMs to be upgraded to ‘Super Flankers’ under bold, ambitious plan appeared first on Twentytwo13.

  • Sarawak premier says to stop providing capital contributions to GLCs, starting with BDA and SEDC by 2027

    KUCHING, June 25 — The state government will no longer be providing annual capital contributions to government-linked co...

  • Newsmax Slaps Very Awkward Note On Screen During Donald Trump Interview

    Critics on social media suggested the chyron meant one thing.

  • This North Korean defector sends ‘smart’ balloons back home. Here’s a look inside his secretive assembly room

    Beside a desk scattered with soldering pieces, loose wires and electronic parts, Choi’s computer screen tracks wind conditions and the GPS location of some unlikely parcels: massive “smart” balloons he has sent floating into North Korea.

  • Ahead of merger with Mavcom, ex-chairman says CAAM must keep independence to inspire confidence in stakeholders

    KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Economist Nungsari Ahmad Radhi has urged for the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to...

  • India's Rahul Gandhi appointed as parliamentary leader of opposition

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chief rival, Rahul Gandhi, was appointed Tuesday to lead India's opposition in parliament, a key post that has been vacant for a decade, signalling a reinvigorated challenge to government.Gandhi is the scion of the dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades and is the son, grandson and great-grandson of former prime ministers, beginning with independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru. 

  • Iran picks new president at turbulent time

    Iranians vote on Friday to elect a new president from six candidates, including a lone reformist who hopes he can challenge the dominance of conservatives in the Islamic republic.Neda said: "The hijab law will never be lifted since this is the Islamic republic.

  • Trump whittles down VP picks - here’s the frontrunners

    The former president said he has decided on a vice president but hasn’t told anyone

  • Fresh unrest erupts in French territory of New Caledonia

    A fresh surge of unrest hit the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, with several buildings set on fire overnight, including a police station and a town hall, authorities said Monday.The new spike in violence comes as France prepares to vote in historic legislative elections this weekend and support for the far-right surges across the country.In mid-May, rioting and looting erupted in New Caledonia over an electoral reform plan that Indigenous Kanak people feared would leave them in a permanent minority, putting independence hopes definitively out of reach.The unrest left nine dead and damage estimated at more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion).In recent days French authorities had insisted that Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, which is located nearly 17,000 kilometres (10,600 miles) from Paris, was back under their control.But the new violence erupted after seven independence activists accused of orchestrating the deadly riots had been sent to mainland France for pre-trial detention over the weekend.On Monday, the pro-independence group CCAT denounced France's "colonial tactics" and demanded the "immediate release and return" of the activists, including its head Christian Tein, saying they should be tried in New Caledonia. French prosecutors said the independence activists had been sent to mainland France "in order to allow the investigations to continue in a calm manner, free of any pressure".- 'Attacks on police and arson' -The High Commission, which represents the French state in the archipelago, said in a statement that the night was "marked by unrest throughout the mainland (of the territory) and on the island of Pins and Mare, requiring the intervention of numerous reinforcements: with attacks on the police, arson and roadblocks."A 23-year-old man in a state of "respiratory distress" died during the night after visiting the barricades in Noumea, public prosecutor Yves Dupas said.The prosecutor's office has launched an investigation, Dupas said, adding that the victim had told his parents that he had not been "injured by the police".A motorist also died on Sunday evening in a head-on collision with another vehicle in Paita, near Noumea, after having been "forced to make a U-turn because of a roadblock erected by pro-independence militants", officials said.In Dumbea, north of the capital, the municipal police station and a garage were set alight. Four armoured vehicles intervened, an AFP journalist said.Several fires broke out in the Ducos and Magenta districts of Noumea, while police and separatists clashed in Bourail, resulting in one injury, AFP learned.The High Commission reported "several fires were extinguished", particularly in Ducos and Magenta, adding that "premises and vehicles of the municipal police and private vehicles" were set on fire."Abuses, destruction and attempted fires were also committed in several places in Paita," in the Noumea suburbs, added the High Commission, which said police in Mare had also been attacked. On Monday morning, many schools were closed due to the renewed unrest.The French government has responded to the violence by sending more than 3,000 troops and police to New Caledonia.Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested since the unrest began, including 38 on Monday.President Emmanuel Macron has said that the controversial voting reform would be suspended due to the snap parliamentary polls in France.mtp-as/rlp

  • Cash-strapped Sri Lanka set to sign key debt deals with lenders

    Sri Lanka has finalised long-delayed debt deals with its bilateral lenders including China to meet a key condition of an IMF bailout, the government said Tuesday.Sri Lanka is due to hold a presidential election this year and opposition parties have vowed to renegotiate the terms of the IMF bailout.

  • PM asks Fatima Payman not to attend Labor caucus temporarily after crossing floor over Palestine motion

    Deputy PM says now is ‘not the time to be going around expelling people’ as he calls for social cohesion across Australia

  • Malaysia not selling MAHB, PM Anwar says in Parliament

    KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today dismissed reports indicating the sale of Malaysia...

  • EU hits 19 Chinese firms with sanctions over links to Russian war effort

    The European Union Monday imposed sanctions on 19 Chinese companies aimed at punishing what the West believes is Beijing's support for Russia's war in Ukraine. A list published in the EU's Official Journal includes several companies located in Hong Kong as well as two global satellite giants.The 14th package of sanctions against Russia added 61 new companies to the list of entities accused of directly "supporting Russia's military-industrial complex" in the war in Ukraine, bringing the total to