LET’S PLAY THE “WHATABOUTISM” GAME.
I normally avoid “Yeah, but…“ and “What about…?” in my posts and answers, but this is a special circumstance now that Hunter Biden has actually been criminally indicted on gun charges. In fact, I was tempted to include other Republicans in a “whataboutism” post: Matt Gaetz (FL), still under investigation for sexual misconduct involving minors and George Santos (NY), who lied about every minute of his life to get elected and is under investigation for fraud and money laundering. I even thought about Jared Kushner and his $2 billion gift from Saudi Arabia. But let’s just stick to Biden and Trump.
Before anything else, let’s stipulate that everyone in the country is under the law. If you commit crimes, you should be charged. tried, and if convicted, suffer the consequences. That goes for Presidents, ex-Presidents, and the children of Presidents. OK? Let’s go.
Number of charges. Biden – 3. Trump – 91.
Types of charges. Biden, an admitted drug addict, exercised his 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms but lied about being addicted on an ATF registration form. This is a felony, though some courts have ruled the laws unconstitutional. This type of offense is almost always charged in conjunction with other crimes, such as robbery or assault. A stand-alone charge is very rare. Trump illegally paid hush money to help his 2016 campaign, illegally conspired with others to overturn his 2020 election loss, and illegally stole and retained government documents to which he had no claim.
Are the charges politically motivated, political weaponizations of the justice system, and timed to interfere with the 2024 election cycle? Biden was investigated for 5 years. Being late on his taxes and a false claim on a government form were the result, and a plea deal was announced. That deal occasioned outraged howls from the right, which has been trying to hang bribery, money laundering, and influence-peddling schemes on Hunter and the Biden family, especially his father Joe. It appears as though the special counsel in this case either caved to that pressure or had a sudden change of heart after 5 years of unfettered investigation. The timing seems at least suspicious. Trump committed some of his crimes in full public view and hearing. He has not denied doing many of the things of which he is accused. Rather, his main defense seems to be that he was President, and he could therefore do anything he wanted. Are the charges against him politically motivated? Since his alleged crimes were all political in nature, of course politics play a part. Has the justice system of the US been “weaponized” against him? nope. None of the crimes of which he is accused have been invented to target him. Other people have committed those same crimes and paid the penalties. Donald J. Trump is only special because he was once the President. Are the charges timed to interfere with his campaign? Well, in some cases he has filed delaying motion after delaying motion. He is as much to blame for the timing as anyone.
In the end, all the media hoopla and right-wing pearl-clutching about private citizen Hunter Biden is really about casting aspersions on his dad and diverting attention from Donald Trump’s serious attacks on our nation’s democratic underpinnings and even national security. What about that?