CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Asks How Biden Will ‘Handle’ Trump Bringing Up Hunter Verdict At Debate

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins asked how President Joe Biden will handle First Son Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict if ex-President Donald Trump brings it up at the upcoming debate.

Hunter was found guilty on all three counts Tuesday in his trial for gun charges, and is also facing tax charges in California. President Biden has promised not to pardon his son, and said in a statement following the verdict that “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, the anchor hosted Biden biographer Evan Osnos to discuss the verdict, and wondered how the president would handle it at the CNN debate later this month:

COLLINS: Well, I wonder how, how does it weigh on him, when he hears three jurors, who told CNN — obviously, they voted. This was unanimous. They voted to convict. But they were asking themselves, if this would have been brought at all, had he not been Hunter Biden.

OSNOS: That’s been a fact for a while. I mean, Joe Biden has said to have told people around him that he knows that had he not continued on in politics that his son might not be facing the charges that he was on.

COLLINS: I mean, that must really weigh on him.

OSNOS: I think it’s a heavy, heavy burden.

COLLINS: To have that thought.

OSNOS: I think it’s a very heavy burden.

And look, Joe Biden’s decision to be in public life, as long as he has, has added to the pressure on Hunter Biden. I mean, Joe Biden has always known for a long time, that the gene of addiction, which is in this family, is in Hunter Biden’s life. And by staying in politics, by being as exposed as they are, in some ways, it has put pressures on Hunter Biden. And I do think that weighs on the president.

COLLINS: Well, and obviously, all of this is coming in the middle of the election year. We will talk about, in a second, about how Republicans are handling this.

But how does Biden handle this at the debate? I don’t think anyone thinks it’s going to have a huge impact on the election. But we’ll see. But how does he handle it for the debate with Trump, who, of course, at the last debate brought up Hunter Biden?

OSNOS: I think in the broader sense, there is a way in which this adds to the psychic load, of what he is contending with. I mean, if you think about the Middle East, you think about the U.S., and now of course, within his own family.

Actually, though, as a political matter, and in the debate, that’s actually an area where Joe Biden knows how to handle this. You remember in 2020, there was a moment, when he essentially telegraphed, very clearly: Back off, I love my son. And actually, and the data in the campaign was clear about this. That was a moment that Americans responded to. I think there is some piece of the public that says we want to see not only that president, but also that dad.

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.