“The White House would like him to probably go away right now,” says Joe Biden’s former press secretary.
Joe Biden’s former press secretary Jen Psaki conveyed a message from the White House to Hunter Biden: stay out of the spotlight.
“Meet the Press” anchor Kristen Welker asked, “Jen Psaki, you had this surprise press conference by Hunter Biden this week. Did it help, or did it hurt?”
“Look, I think If you’re sitting in the White House right now, you’re like, ‘Please, Hunter Biden, we know your dad loves you. Please stop talking in public,’” Psaki said Sunday.
“This is not helpful to any of them for him to be out there but at the same time, the president loves his son. That takes precedent over anything else. That is appealing. He loves his son, he loves his family family and he’s worried about his mental health.”
“But yes the White House would like him to probably go away right now,” she added.
Hunter ignored a Congressional subpoena to appear for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee and instead delivered a speech decrying the committee’s investigation into his shady foreign business dealings and insisted his father had no “financial” involvement.
Hunter’s improv presser was such an optics disaster that the New York Times stepped in to alter Hunter’s quotes pertaining to his father Joe Biden’s role in his business ventures.
He now faces contempt of Congress charges for defying the subpoena.
Hunter was indicted last week on 9 felony tax charges in California by special counsel David Weiss, facing up to 17 years in prison.
Hunter reportedly told family and friends he may flee the country to avoid further prosecution if former President Donald Trump is elected next year.
Hunter’s legal and political woes have become so prominent that Joe Biden is concerned they may affect his 2024 reelection chances.
From Politico:
The 81-year-old president is deeply sensitive about his son and has barked at aides who have mused about Hunter Biden as an electoral liability or those who wondered if he should be accompanying the president on the road. Many aides now choose to avoid the subject, for fear of triggering the president’s temper, according to two of the five confidants. For example, no one raised whether it was a good idea for Hunter Biden to attend a June state dinner for India’s prime minister just days after accepting a plea deal.
The president, though, is not shy about expressing his worries over the phone to family members and a select group of confidants. He has quizzed them as to what they thought would happen to his son and expressed that he fears the worst if his son were convicted or faced any sort of prison time.
