Under routine circumstances, the American presidency is a pressure cooker of a job. Now President Joe Biden has the added weight of a congressional impeachment inquiry and criminal charges against his son Hunter — all while seeking reelection amid lingering questions about his age and stamina.
But President Biden is nothing if not determined as he has finally reached the Oval Office 32 years after his first bid. Today, the fierce desire to stop his criminally indicted predecessor from making a comeback only deepens Mr. Biden’s resolve. Devotion to family is another inspiring force.
Why we wrote this
An impeachment inquiry into US President Joe Biden and the indictment of his son Hunter on federal weapons charges could generate sympathy but also pose risks to his re-election campaign.
House Republicans’ impeachment gambit could be seen as an attempt to distract from former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles. But it is still serious business for Mr Biden – despite the lack of direct evidence that he personally profited from his son’s business activities.
Republicans run the risk of perceived dominance, political analysts say. But that is likely to be of little comfort to Mr. Biden and his team.
“No one in the White House woke up in the morning and said, ‘You know what would help us? Another scandal involving Hunter Biden,” said Jeffrey Engel, presidential historian at Southern Methodist University. “The ‘what about it-ism’ hurts, especially when the leading Republican candidate (for president) has been indicted four times.”
Under routine circumstances, the American presidency is a pressure cooker of a job. Now President Joe Biden has the added weight of a congressional impeachment inquiry and son Hunter’s criminal indictment — all while seeking reelection amid lingering questions about his age and stamina.
But President Biden is nothing if not determined as he has finally reached the Oval Office 32 years after his first bid. Today, the fierce desire to stop his criminally indicted predecessor from making a comeback only deepens Mr. Biden’s resolve. Devotion to family is another inspiring force.
Even if House Republicans’ impeachment gambit can be construed as an attempt to distract from former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles, it is still serious business for Mr. Biden — despite the lack of direct evidence that he personally benefited from his son’s business dealings. .
Why we wrote this
An impeachment inquiry into US President Joe Biden and the indictment of his son Hunter on federal weapons charges could generate sympathy but also pose risks to his re-election campaign.
Republicans run the risk of perceived dominance, political analysts say. But that is likely to be of little comfort to Mr. Biden and his team.
“No one in the White House woke up in the morning and said, ‘You know what would help us? Another scandal involving Hunter Biden,” said Jeffrey Engel, presidential historian at Southern Methodist University. “The ‘what about it-ism’ hurts, especially when the leading Republican candidate (for president) has been indicted four times.”
The danger for Mr. Biden is that voters who are not paying close attention may not see much distinction between former President Trump’s criminal charges and the Biden investigation. “What they hear is that something is wrong,” says Dr. Engel, director of SMU’s Center for Presidential History.
Hunter Biden’s woes can cut two ways
Mr. Biden’s close relationship with his only surviving son, Hunter — who has long struggled with addiction but says he is now clean and sober — is another element that could cut both ways. To the president’s political opponents, the younger Biden is a troubled man who profited from the family name in international business dealings during his father’s vice presidency.
To the president’s friends, the Biden family’s story is one of dedication in the wake of tragedy, including the death of son Beau in 2015 and before that the car crash that killed Biden’s first wife and infant daughter in 1972.
Today, in many ways, Hunter’s struggles are never far from his father’s thoughts; The two are known to speak almost daily. And when reporters ask about his son, the president responds with a steely stare or a terse statement of support.
“The extra pressure he has had on his son, Hunter Biden, is tough,” says former Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, a longtime friend of the president since their time together as senators. “The problems that Hunter Biden has had, you can’t put all of that on hold one way or another. That is with you every day.”
In June, the younger Biden reached a plea deal with prosecutors over federal tax charges, which was also expected to help him avoid jail time on a gun purchase-related charge. But in July the plea deal fell apart, and last week Mr. Biden was charged with lying about his drug use on a gun application. The indictment opens up the potential for a high-profile trial in the heat of the 2024 presidential campaign.
Difficult family members are not uncommon in American presidencies, but Hunter Biden’s example — including his role in the business dealings under scrutiny by House investigators — could pose a greater risk to his political fortunes. his father than in other cases. Republicans claim the son received special treatment from federal prosecutors.
McCarthy and the impeachment inquiry
Biden’s impeachment inquiry, while not good news for the president, is equally a reflection of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s political problems. After initially promising to hold a formal vote in the House to launch the investigation, the speaker skipped that step and announced the investigation himself, apparently lacking the votes. The Republican has only the smallest majority and is operating under constant threat of a ‘motion to leave’ that could end his chairmanship.
Some Republicans in Congress oppose the impeachment inquiry. In a Op-ed from the Washington Post last Friday, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado — a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus — accused his party’s leadership of diverting attention from an impending government shutdown. “Republicans in the House of Representatives who yearn for impeachment are relying on an imagined history,” he wrote.
But even if the Biden impeachment inquiry is seen by some as political theater, history shows that investigations can go in unexpected directions. In the 1990s, the Whitewater investigation into President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton’s real estate investments ultimately led to the discovery of President Clinton’s affair with an intern — and his ouster for lying about it under oath.
Well before the impeachment inquiry into Biden was formally launched, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee had already obtained thousands of pages of financial records that the committee chairman says are evidence of the “The Biden family’s influence on scheme peddling,” although it has not yet released that evidence. Now the committee is looking for more documents.
“If I’m Biden, I certainly don’t want anyone to interfere,” said Chris Edelson, a political scientist at American University. Still, he adds, “Republicans are gambling to some extent. What if there is nothing?”
On Sunday, Speaker McCarthy said this on Fox News that Republicans in the House of Representatives will eventually subpoena Hunter Biden. That could also be risky, because it could generate sympathy for the president’s son, whose personal problems have been tabloid fodder for years.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, notes that many families have experiences with addiction. But in a political context, she asks, “What is the capacity of any given member of the public to experience empathy about this situation?”
With Hunter Biden, “are we now in a situation where, if you’re a Republican who supports Trump, you’re not going to experience empathy for anyone in that situation?” asks Doctor Jamieson.
In the Biden White House, answers to press questions about Hunter typically reflect the president’s six-word statement of support: “I am very proud of my son.” On Friday, however, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered more, declaring for the first time that the president will not pardon his son or commute his sentence if he is convicted on weapons charges.
President Biden’s behavior and attitude in the impeachment inquiry are completely different. As he walked across the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday after landing in Marine One, a reporter shouted a question: “What is your response to the impeachment inquiry?”
Mr. Biden grinned widely and replied: “Good luck.”