Devon Archer testified on Monday that his former business partner, Hunter Biden, called then-Vice President Joe Biden during business meetings to “sell the illusion of access to his father” and America’s government. Tuesday’s CNN This Morning dismissed Hunter’s use of his father’s position as vice president for business advancement as typical political behavior, more suitable than that of Trump’s children, irrelevant to voters compared to Republican extremism, and unimportant to the public.
“You know, Hunter Biden seems to be, from all the evidence, very much in this long lineage of people who try to trade on their association with powerful people in Washington,” declared Ron Brownstein, senior editor for The Atlantic, justifying Hunter’s alleged 20 phone calls to his father as a marketing strategy to attract foreign businesses.
Host Phil Mattingly also dismissed Hunter’s behavior as typical Washington, D.C. networking:
And yet – I mean the fact he was on the phone to Ron's point, this is something that if you work in Washington, you are very familiar with this type of thing. Lobbyists do it all the time with their former bosses. Family members trade off this on a pretty regular basis.
“But it looks, it looks bad,” Mattingly admitted, “And it seems to be contrary to what the President said in terms of he had no conversations with his son about his business whatsoever.”
It “seems” contrary because it was contrary. President Biden claimed he never involved himself in his son’s affairs.
When asked if Hunter’s use of his father’s position for monetary gain would resonate with voters, Jessica Washington, senior reporter for The Root, parlayed and asserted that Trump’s children shared tighter business ties with former him than Hunter and President Biden:
I think to a certain extent it will resonate with some voters. But I do think this kind of -- we have no direct connection to Biden in anything unethical at this point. And so, right now, we're talking about Hunter Biden who isn't in the administration. It's not like the Trump kids, where they had these close business ties, where he brought them into the administration. So, I don't think it resonates in the same way what happened with Jared or Ivanka or the Trump kids does.
Brownstein remained unconcerned that Hunter’s conduct would matter politically. He reminisced about 2022, claiming Democrats won despite disapproval of Biden’s performance because Republicans were ‘extremists’:
Obviously, none of this looks good for the Biden family. But if you go back to 2022, in an election where a majority of Americans disapproved of Biden's performance and almost 80 percent said the economy was in bad shape, Democrats overperformed precisely because too many voters thought Republicans -- the Republican choices were extremists.
Mattingly believed the Hunter Biden investigation did not interest voters. “Well, and Jessica, I mean White House officials will give you reams of polling making clear that the investigations into Hunter Biden or these issues specifically are not top of mind for the general American public,” he asserted.
CNN downplayed Devon Archer's incriminating statements about Hunter Biden and defended the President’s son, but time will tell if the various investigations justify such a dismissive tone.
CNN's dismissal of Devon Archer’s testimony was made possible by Best Western’s sponsorship.
The Transcript is below, click "expand" to read.
CNN This Morning
8/1/2023
6:31 AM Eastern
POPPY HARLOW: He says, Dan Goldman that is, that the conversations were casual and included chatting about the weather or just saying hello. But a source tells CNN that Archer testified, again this is all behind closed doors, that Hunter Biden did sell the illusion of access to his father, to Washington really, during these meetings, and he provided no evidence connecting President Biden to his son's former business dealings. Ron Brownstein is back, also with us, Jessica Washington. So, the issue is behind closed doors--RON BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
HARLOW: --is he said, and mainly he said –
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, right.
HARLOW: -- in this situation because James Comer, a Republican chair of the Oversight Committee, said when Biden was -- this is a quote, “Vice President of the United States, he joined Hunter Biden's dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone 20 times.” Devon Archer is under a federal probe for something totally different than this,
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
HARLOW: -- but the House wants to know from him, this committee, what was Hunter Biden doing and how did it tie to his father, if it did.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, Hunter Biden seems to be, from all the evidence, very much in this long lineage of people who try to trade on their association with powerful people in Washington. But what they, what the committees have not yet produced is any indication that Joe Biden in any way was involved in his business activities. I mean, even the, even the kind of the star witness said that he provided the illusion of access.
There's risk here for both. Obviously, none of this looks good for the Biden family. But if you go back to 2022, in an election where a majority of Americans disapproved of Biden's performance and almost 80 percent said the economy was in bad shape, Democrats overperformed precisely because too many voters thought Republicans -- the Republican choices were extremists.
And going forward with an impeachment on the illusion of access is not, I think, you know kind of a formula for those 18 Republicans in Biden districts or even the further circle of Republicans in districts that Trump won only narrowly.
PHIL MATTINGLY: Well and Jessica, I mean White House officials will give you reams of polling making clear that the investigations into Hunter Biden or these issues specifically are not top of mind for the general American public. And yet – I mean the fact he was on the phone to Ron's point, this is something that if you work in Washington, you are very familiar with this type of thing. Lobbyists do it all the time with their former bosses. Family members trade off this on a pretty regular basis.
But it looks, it looks bad. And it seems to be contrary to what the President said in terms of he had no conversations with his son about his business whatsoever. My question, my biggest question right now is does this resonate with anybody outside of the sphere that we kind of all operate in?
JESSICA WASHINGTON: I think to a certain extent it will resonate with some voters. But I do think this kind of -- we have no direct connection to Biden in anything unethical at this point. And so, right now, we're talking about Hunter Biden who isn't in the administration. It's not like the Trump kids, where they had these close business ties, where he brought them into the administration. So, I don't think it resonates in the same way what happened with Jared or Ivanka or the Trump kids does.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, it's more, it may be more generic than personal.
HARLOW: Yeah.
BROWNSTEIN: This is the kind of, this is the kind of reason why people are so -- so many voters feel that they, that Washington is not looking out for their interest,
HARLOW: Because –
BROWNSTEIN: -- is self-dealing, sort of, Jared Kushner getting $2 billion from the Saudis. Hunter Biden trading on his father's name.
