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| Joe Biden and Hunter Biden |
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/us/politics/hunter-biden-china.html
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/13/hunter-biden-resign-bhr-china-backed-equity-firm/
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2019/10/13/joe-on-the-uptake/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/ukraine-prosecutor-says-no-evidence-of-wrongdoing-by-bidens (Photo)
Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, has stated that he will step down from the board of BHR, a Chinese company, by the end of the month. Furthermore, his lawyer, George Mesires, claims that Hunter will remain out of foreign business if his father becomes president. Presumably, this is being done to quell any accusations against his father and avoid the complaints leveled against the President Trump about his family's involvement in the current administration. This is supported by Joe Biden's comment at a conference in Iowa earlier today where he stated, "No one in my family will have an office in the White House, will sit in on meetings as if they’re a Cabinet member, will in fact have any business relationship with anyone that relates to a foreign corporation or a foreign country." Moreover, at this same conference he indirectly addressed President Trump's claims that he illegally helped his son in overseas financial dealings in Ukraine. He said, "No one, has asserted that I have done anything wrong except the lying president."
Despite this, some like Betty Cracker from the Progressive Balloon Juice argue that Joe Biden is not doing enough to defeat President Trump's attacks. During the 2016 campaign, President Trump leveled former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Emails against her in an attempt to discredit her. He employing similar tactics in the Republican primaries, and as we all know, he won the election. If Joe Biden doesn't fight fire with fire and attack Trump back in the upcoming debates leading to the election, he may be similarly discredited and lose all chance at being voted as the Democratic candidate, much less the President of the United States.
I believe that Joe Biden should not have to attack President Trump in return. Call me idiolistic, but the nature of the 2016 elections was more like watching a reality TV show than a debate between adults about policy, and I would like to see campaigns where there is a level of respect. Hunter Biden's stepping down is a solid move, not admitting President Trump is right, yet moving to challenge his accusations.
6 comments:
Though Hunter Biden's prior work was somewhat questionable, it is nice to see that in the face of accusations of wrongdoing, Biden is taking the right course of action and stepping down. I still believe that his prior engagements should be investigated but the question of what is illegal can be complicated as many forms of nepotism are not illegal in foreign nations (and may even be overlooked in the US).
It definitely can seem very sketchy that Hunter Biden left his post since it could create the assumption that Trump's claims about him might be true. However, according to the Washinton article that Zoe linked, it stated that Biden will "resign from BHR’s board of directors, an unpaid position, by Oct. 31, according to the statement," which could mean that he did not get money from this position? However, he could have through other deals (?) This is something work investigating about to truly see if perhaps Trump's claims might be true. He was not wrong when it came to Hillary's emails, BUT if he finds this information through foreign nations intervening in the process (Ukraine scandal) then that is a whole different issue in itself.
Like Srimaye has said, Hunter Biden stepping down from his position can seem like a point to attack for those people seeking to find small flaws in Joe Biden and blow it up, with accusations like what did he have to hide, but the follow up from Joe Biden seems to support his son's actions. I do agree that a little more should be done to defend himself against the claims of Trump, but those claims will always keep coming no matter what, so Hunter Biden's passive-aggressive challenge to Trump does show some resistance alongside Biden's claim to never have any familial ties to the presidency unlike Trump. Also, there are developments that Hunter Biden is planning to have interviews about his involvement in Ukraine, so if he is able to craft his words right to tell the truth, the claims made by Trump and his followers may not remain truthful, or the slug fest of attacks from each side might continue on, which seems to hurt the democratic party more so than the President himself.
I would also agree with your statement that Joe Biden should not have to attack President Trump in return. I feel that rather than attacking Trump back, any candidate, including Biden, could have a better image; letting the president try to discredit candidates, in my opinion, would make him seem ridiculous judging by how much he's done during his presidency and before that can be used to discredit himself. If he starts targeting candidates and tries to stir up a frenzy while the targeted candidates stay calm and collected, they will be the ones that appear more level-headed and fit for the presidency.
I too agree that Joe Biden doesn't have to fight back Trump's attacks. Trump's tactics in the elections has always been to go after and attack an opponent rather than giving his political ideas as a candidate, and it does sometimes get frustrating watching these elections go on when most of them are just candidates clashing against each other. If Joe Biden doesn't attack Trump back, that may never spur the fights that occurred in the 2016 elections.
Like Zoe and everyone else has agreed on, I believe it would be in Joe Biden’s best interest not to retaliate against Trump. While Biden shouldn’t flat out ignore any accusations leveled at him, he should strike a healthy balance between attack and defense. Being overly defensive or aggressive toward Trump could come off as a sign of guilt; especially with the media who tend to blow things out of proportion to contribute to their “horse race” stories and the suspicion surrounding Hunter Biden’s resignation, fighting back against Trump has the potential to do a lot more harm than good. Although possibly illegal actions should, of course, be investigated, it would be refreshing to finally see an election involving more civil, level-headed discussions of policy rather than dramatic attacks and mudslinging.
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