‘I’m Just So Proud of Him!’ President Biden Defends Hunter When CNN’s Tapper Brings Up Possible Criminal Charges
President Joe Biden defended his son when CNN host Jake Tapper brought up the possibility of criminal charges being filed against Hunter Biden, and repeatedly spoke of how proud he is of Hunter’s recovery.
Biden’s only surviving son has become a lightning rod for the president’s opponents, who got a boost when it was reported that agents investigating Hunter think they’ve gathered “sufficient evidence to charge him with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase” — while others don’t see the prospect as all that likely or serious.
For example, Fox News anchor Bret Baier downplayed the significance of the report, agreeing that “these charges are nothings” if that article is to be believed.
The president was the first guest on the inaugural edition of CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper, answering questions on a variety of weighty topics, and toward the end of the interview, Tapper asked the president for his reaction to the reporting about Hunter.
President Biden told Tapper he’s proud of his son, and “confident” in him as well:
TAPPER: Our reporting, CNN’s reporting and “The Washington Post” reporting suggests that prosecutors think they could, they have enough to, charge your son Hunter for tax crimes and a false statement about a gun purchase.
Personally and politically, how do you react to that?
BIDEN: Well, first of all, I’m proud of my son. This is a kid who got, not a kid — he’s a grown man. He got hooked on — like many families have had happen, hooked on drugs. He’s overcome that. He’s established a new life.
He is — I’m confident that he is — what he says and does are consistent with what happens. And for example, he wrote a book about his problems and was straightforward about it. I’m proud of him.
He came along and said, by the way, this thing about a gun — I didn’t know anything about it. But turns out that when he made application to purchase a gun, what happened was he say (ph) — I guess you get asked — I don’t guess, you get asked a question, are you on drugs, or do use drugs? He said no. And he wrote about saying no —
TAPPER: Right.
BIDEN: — in his book. So I have great confidence in my son. I love him and he’s on the straight and narrow, and he has been for a couple years now. And I’m just so proud of him.
Watch above via CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper.
