The only scheduled press conference this week held by the White House was an interesting one. As President Biden gears up for his European visit to mark the 80th D-Day anniversary, reporters rendered the briefing into a minefield of queries related to the Israel controversy, coupled with an imminent Hunter Biden trial.
Despite the gravity of the situation, only CBS’s Ed O’Keefe and Fox’s Peter Doocy thought it fit to surface the upcoming Hunter Biden trial. O’Keefe initiated, checking in on how the President would keep tabs on his son’s federal trial set to commence the following week. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s elusive response was a typical denial of any intention for Presidential involvement. She also insisted that both President Joe Biden and the First Lady remain supportive of Hunter’s recovery progress, but his trial was not up for discussion.
The question about Biden’s intention to attend the trial was a dead-end stuck on the script of not revealing Biden’s plans. Cruising over the antics of playing hide and seek with the press, Jean-Pierre moved on to stress the President’s trip and state dinner visit to France.
Doocy pivoted the narrative onto Hunter Biden and President Biden’s recent private meeting with a key government witness. The witness in question is none other than Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden’s deceased son, Beau. The spin of outrage to watch out for was the ninth anniversary of Beau’s passing which fell around the President’s visit to Hallie. Amid several exchanges, Doocy held his ground with Hunter’s backdrop. He also pointed out the incoming tell-all book by Lunden Roberts, Hunter’s ex-girlfriend.
Despite suspected implications, Jean-Pierre stuck to the same monotonous denial routine. Even when Doocy referred to a Politico story about Biden’s bad polling hinting at a Democrat Party “freak out,” Jean-Pierre disarmed the question with confusion. The briefing continued with skirts around Hunter Biden and a barrage of other questions, barely answering anything while still maneuvering the narrative.
Given such a crucial time for international relations and internal troubles with Hunter Biden, the White House press briefing gave little satisfactory concrete information. Overarching avoidance concerning Hunter’s trial and Biden’s involvement in the matter raise more questions than answers. Amidst the lack of frankness, the Biden administration finds itself tangled in a complex web of politics, evasion, and scandal. To say the least, altering narratives and elusive responses do little to fill the information void left by the Biden administration. It remains a peculiar American spectacle to witness as we await the consequences of these strategies.
