Lawyers, Guns, and Sonny
Breaking News: Someone in America got in trouble for purchasing a gun. It’s also breaking news because that someone is Hunter Biden. “The verdict, handed down after three hours of deliberations, capped a weeklong trial in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware. The jury found Hunter Biden guilty on two counts of making false statements about his drug use when he bought the weapon, and one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a drug user or addict.” Following the verdict, Hunter Biden attacked the judge and the judge’s children, ridiculed the jury, called the trial a hoax and a witch hunt, and claimed that the justice system is being weaponized against him. Oh wait, that was the other guy. Hunter Biden actually said, “I am more grateful today for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome.”Joe Biden, who said he would not pardon his son, responded to the verdict, “As I said last week, I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today … As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal. Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.” One thing to note here is the longstanding, relentless obsession with Hunter Biden in right wing media. For my book Please Scream Inside Your Heart, I worked with some excellent scholars at the MIT Center for Constructive Communication to create monthly breakdowns of the most shared news links on Twitter by the followers of Rachel Maddow vs the followers of Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. The divide between the top stories was remarkable. And throughout our crazy (and news-filled) 2020, Hunter Biden was always near the top among the latter group. Call them the Hunter (News) Gatherers. During the month before the 2020 election, the October surprise was that the most shared story among Carlson/Hannity followers was a smoking gun email that supposedly revealed how Hunter Biden introduced a Ukrainian businessman to his dad when he was VP. Don’t be surprised if, in that same cohort, the most shared story during the month before our upcoming election is once again about Hunter Biden.
