White House Calls Hunter Biden’s Statement ‘Forceful and Powerful’ In Rare Direct Comment On First Son’s Legal Trouble
NBC White House Correspondent Mike Memoli joined MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera on Wednesday to discuss the Biden White House’s response to Hunter Biden’s defiance of a Congressional subpoena and his statements on Capitol Hill earlier in the day.
“Back to our breaking news at the top of the hour. We are just now learning what the White House thinks of Hunter Biden’s dramatic press conference this morning where he denied any wrongdoing, said he would only sit for an interview with the House Oversight Committee if it was done in a public forum. Also defended his father, even saying that the Republicans have taken the light of my dad’s love for me and presented it as darkness. They have no shame. I want to bring in NBC’s Mike Memoli, what are we learning about the reaction from the White House?” Cabrera began, summing up the morning’s events.
“Well, it’s so interesting because really within minutes of that, as you say, dramatic statement on Capitol Hill from Hunter Biden. An administration official tells me that the view of the White House is that this was a ‘forceful and powerful statement’ on the part of the president’s son,” Memoli began, adding:
That’s notable because we’ve largely had a hands-off approach as it relates to the White House itself, as it relates to Hunter Biden’s legal woes. They’ve tended to refer questions just about anything related to his potential impeachment inquiry and his own legal struggles to his own personal attorneys or to the office of the Special Counsel.
And so it is interesting to note that now the multiple officials are not saying whether President Biden himself watched his son’s statement. This would have occurred just before the president was scheduled to have the presidential daily briefing in the Oval Office. We are also hearing, though, from the Biden campaign as the House is prepared to move ahead with a vote on an impeachment inquiry.
“A campaign spokesperson saying that the House Republicans are doing following the orders of Donald Trump, ‘Trump’s MAGA minions,’ this spokesperson says, and Congress has nothing positive to run on. So they resort to these shameful ploys. They’re highlighting a number of comments from some House Republicans, noting the politics of this, noting the impact it’s had on President Biden’s own approval ratings. And part of their argument that what House Republicans are engaged in is only a political exercise and not one that’s about true accountability here, Ana,” Memoli concluded.
Watch the full clip above via MSNBC.
