After Fevered Coverage of Trump Business Dealings, Media Turns a Blind Eye to Hunter Biden’s Art
The mainstream media has not treated the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, with nearly the same outrage and fervor that it treated those of former President Donald Trump and his family.
Shortly before the 2020 election, The New York Post reported on emails found on Hunter Biden’s laptop — which is currently in the FBI’s possession — that show his business dealings in Ukraine and China when his father was vice president. The mainstream media dismissed it as “misinformation,” particularly of the Russian variety. Burying that story was misinformation in and of itself.
In other words, the mainstream media ran interference for Biden ahead of the 2020 election. While the bombshell surrounding Hunter Biden likely would not have tilted the race in Trump’s favor (the only issue that truly mattered was the coronavirus and the Trump administration’s response to it), it is not the job of the media to select what stories to cover based on their impact on an election, it is to report what is newsworthy regardless.
This biased mentality has continued into Biden’s presidency. The White House has been pressed by The New York Post lately over Hunter Biden’s art sales, over an arrangement made by the administration to ensure that the buyers of Hunter’s art would remain anonymous. That measure, put in place to dispel concerns about influence peddling, apparently has some holes in it: Hunter mingled with attendees at a recent art opening, and his lawyers have reportedly been reviewing prospective buyers.
Stories on Hunter Biden are scant in mainstream media. They have mostly come from outlets like the Post and the Washington Free Beacon: “Emails Reveal Hunter Biden’s Relationship With Shadowy Chinese Tycoon,” “Hunter Biden Requested More Than $2 Million To Unfreeze Libyan Assets When Dad Was VP,” “Hunter Biden Consulted for Oil Man Connected to Notorious Congolese Warlord, Emails Show,” and “Hunter Biden-Linked Law Firm Dodged Lobbying Disclosures for Burisma Work.”
It is inexcusable the mainstream press has not been covering these stories, particularly given the fevered coverage that was devoted to influence peddling and nepotism during the Trump administration.
Published were stories with these headlines: “How Trump fused his business empire to the presidency” (Politico), “Donald Trump’s Suite of Power” (TIME), “The Swamp That Trump Built” (New York Times), “By the numbers: How Trump properties profited from his presidency” (Axios), “How Trump abandoned his pledge to ‘drain the swamp’” (Washington Post), “Ballrooms, candles and luxury cottages: During Trump’s term, millions of government and GOP dollars have flowed to his properties” (Washington Post), “Political spending at Trump properties tops $22 million” (CNN), and “The Winners of Trump’s Washington” (New York).
To their credit, a few mainstream media publications have recently covered Hunter Biden’s business scandals, including Politico and The Atlantic.
Other outlets have had more trouble with the story. Insider produced a piece that was hedged to the point of absurdity: “Hunter Biden’s Ethics Should Worry You — Even If You Hate Fox News,” reads the headline.
To be clear, concerns about Hunter Biden’s art dealings are not unfounded, or trivial, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki would have you believe.
Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, this week defended what he called “legitimate questions” regarding Hunter Biden’s art sales.
“After the last 4 years, these questions have never been more important. I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but this stuff matters,” posted Shaub in a Twitter thread.
“It doesn’t matter that Trump was worse,” he added. “What matters is that this sets a low bar for ethics.”
However, whether Trump is worse than Hunter Biden or vice versa is irrelevant when it comes to press coverage. Rather, it is that influence peddling – whether it was Trump administration officials and allies staying at Trump properties while Trump was in office in order to curry favor with the now-former administration, or Hunter Biden profiting off through Ukrainian and Chinese business dealings when his father was vice president or now through his art sales that so far have netted him at least $375,000 – is wrong.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
