Mike Allen noted it in his Axios newsletter this morning:
It was Joe Biden’s family that almost kept him from running. Now, it could help drag him down.
- Why it matters: The former vice president has to answer questions about family controversies just as Elizabeth Warren is catching him in the polls.
- Hunter Biden was a paid board member of a Ukrainian gas company while his father was in the White House.
Top Democrats tell us they worry the Ukraine fracas winds up being an albatross for Biden because he’ll be associated with an unpopular issue and process, and won’t be able to shake questions about Hunter Biden.
- All the fact checks and “to be sure” paragraphs in the world may not obviate the collateral damage.
A Democratic strategist not affiliated with a campaign said the Hunter Biden problem is not just his work in Ukraine, but all his personal and business issues.
- They were all detailed in July in a gripping New Yorker article by Adam Entous, who had extensive cooperation from Hunter Biden and the campaign: “Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father’s Campaign? Joe Biden’s son is under scrutiny for his business dealings and tumultuous personal life.”
Trump will be “relentless” in exploiting and distorting any dirt on Hunter, the Democratic strategist said.
- Part of Trump’s calculus could be psychological: Trump knows that Biden worries about his son.
- The possible upside for Biden is that such taunting reinforces the idea that he is the 2020 Democrat most feared by Trump.