Anchor and chief correspondent for CNN in Washington, Jake Tapper, acknowledged the accuracy of former President Donald Trump’s claim regarding Hunter Biden, the son of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, accepting significant amounts of foreign funds during the 2020 presidential debates.
During the broadcast of “The Lead” on CNN, Tapper affirmed on Thursday that Biden’s stance had been “incorrect” during the head-to-head encounters between the contenders three years ago. This is when the Democratic nominee at the time dismissed Trump’s allegations about his son accumulating substantial wealth in Ukraine, China, Moscow, and other locales.
At that moment, Biden firmly denied the accusations by stating, “None of those assertions hold any truth.” In his analysis, Tapper allowed for the possibility that Biden might not have been “dishonest” during his candidacy.
Tapper assembled a compilation of the debate dialogues, contrasting them with a recent report by Glenn Kessler, the chief fact-checker at The Washington Post, which demonstrated Biden’s inaccuracies.
The anchor explained, “Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post conducted a fact-check earlier this month, revealing that Hunter Biden indeed admitted in a court proceeding in July that he had received substantial payments from Chinese firms.”
Referring to Kessler’s report, Tapper continued, “Kessler mentioned, ‘Hunter Biden declared an income of nearly 2.4 million in 2017 and 2.2 million in 2018,’ with the majority originating from Chinese and Ukrainian sources.”
He proceeded to critique Biden’s 2020 assertions before airing excerpts from the debates. “This directly contradicts what Joe Biden stated during the 2020 debates with Donald Trump. Listen to this.”
After playing clips of President Trump’s accusations and Biden’s denial, Tapper conceded that Trump’s claims regarding Hunter Biden’s business engagements were accurate.
“So, although these statements were made during two separate debates, it’s evident that Trump was correct. Hunter did amass wealth from China, and Joe Biden’s assertion was inaccurate,” Tapper affirmed.
Commenting on Biden’s denial, Tapper added, “It’s uncertain whether he was deliberately untruthful about it. It’s possible that he wasn’t informed by Hunter, but this apparent blind spot poses a concern.”
Following Tapper’s query about whether the panelists regarded this lapse as a potential issue for the president in the future, former Representative Andy Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, downplayed the matter, saying, “Parents, including presidents, sometimes possess blind spots regarding their children. However, there’s no evidence connecting the president to any of Hunter Biden’s activities. He hasn’t been implicated or involved in any way.”
“I believe voters don’t attach significant importance to this,” Levin added.
Despite Biden’s denial of his son’s alleged dubious business transactions during his presidential campaign, CNN recently reported that the president has been “extremely preoccupied” with this matter and is concerned about its portrayal in the media.
Earlier on the same Thursday, CNN’s John Avlon remarked, “Privately as well, there have been reports indicating his strong preoccupation with the negative coverage of Hunter. He’s uneasy about it; it’s a source of annoyance. That’s understandable, though it’s a topic his close allies avoid broaching, as it could deflect discussions elsewhere.”