Reacting to the news that David Weiss has been appointed special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation, Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart lamented to Friday’s PBS NewsHour that Fox News has feed its viewers a “anti-Biden family diet” over the past few years.
Referencing a report in earlier in the show from Iowa by Lisa Desjardins that sought voter reaction to the news and showed that initial reaction was that it was about time, Capehart exclaimed, “And you know why they're thinking that way? Because they have been fed a steady diet, anti-Hunter Biden, anti-Biden family diet for months, if not years, and trying to equate what's happening with the president's son to what's happening with the former president of the United States, who now has three indictments against him for very serious crimes, two of them, and maybe another one coming next week.”
Capehart also lamented the comparison between the two, “So they're not equivalent, but when you get that steady diet of anti-Hunter Biden news from a particular cable network, I get why they think, what took them so long?”
Host Amna Nawaz then turned to New York Times columnist David Brooks for his reaction to a different kind of Republican response, “We saw former President Trump has already issued a statement questioning the independence of David Weiss. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also tweeted that House Republicans will not only continue their own investigations and their own probes into Hunter Biden, but he also added this: ‘If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn't get approved, how can he be trusted as a special counsel?’"
Nawaz ultimately asked, “It's worth pointing out Weiss was appointed by former President Trump. He was a — he was confirmed by a Republican-led Senate. Why so much mistrust? Why this message from Republicans?”
Brooks responded with a more centrist take, “Well, the Republicans are mistrustful of -- you can imagine, from their point of view, it's political administration, you know, indict — or trying to defend the son of the president. I mean, that story sort of tells itself.”
On Hunter’s gun and tax charges, Brooks declared that “Those don't seem like the big deal here,” but “The big deal is, Hunter Biden made a lot of money telling people he was going to peddle influence. Did he peddle influence?”
Like most in the media Brooks claimed there wasn’t much evidence for that allegation, “And that seems to me the core question that I would like to see somebody answer. And reporters have gone into this and they have found he received money.”
However, Brooks didn’t dismiss the idea as a crazed Fox News theory and hoped the investigations into that question would continue, “But I think that's what I'd like to see investigated.”
Brooks is, of course, correct. Hunter made lots of money when his only “qualification” was having an important last name. That’s not some conspiracy theory cooked up by a “particular cable network.”
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Here is a transcript for the August 11 show:
PBS NewsHour
8/11/2023
7:38 PM ET
JONATHAN CAPEHART: And you know why they're thinking that way? Because they have been fed a steady diet, anti-Hunter Biden, anti-Biden family diet for months, if not years, and trying to equate what's happening with the president's son to what's happening with the former president of the United States, who now has three indictments against him for very serious crimes, two of them, and maybe another one coming next week.
So they're not equivalent, but when you get that steady diet of anti-Hunter Biden news from a particular cable network, I get why they think, what took them so long?
AMNA NAWAZ: Well, David, this is why it's worth looking at the Republican response to that appointment today.
We saw former President Trump has already issued a statement questioning the independence of David Weiss. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also tweeted that House Republicans will not only continue their own investigations and their own probes into Hunter Biden, but he also added this: "If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn't get approved, how can he be trusted as a special counsel?"
It's worth pointing out Weiss was appointed by former President Trump. He was a — he was confirmed by a Republican-led Senate. Why so much mistrust? Why this message from Republicans?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, the Republicans are mistrustful of -- you can imagine, from their point of view, it's political administration, you know, indict — or trying to defend the son of the president. I mean, that story sort of tells itself.
I guess a couple of things about this position. First, it can't be good news for the White House, because, a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like this thing was all going to peter out in a deal. And now, apparently, the investigation is going to go on for some significant amount of time or else they wouldn't have done this. So that means the story still lives.
The second thing is that, you know, I don't — in the plea deal, it was about gun charges and tax charges.
NAWAZ: Right.
BROOKS: Those don't seem like the big deal here. The big deal is, Hunter Biden made a lot of money telling people he was going to peddle influence. Did he peddle influence?
And that seems to me the core question that I would like to see somebody answer. And reporters have gone into this and they have found he received money. They haven't found any evidence that he's peddled influence. But I think that's what I'd like to see investigated.
