GOP Rivals Acknowledge Focus on Hunter Biden as Benefiting Trump

Former President Donald Trump’s rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination have spent little time discussing Hunter Biden’s legal problems related to tax charges and a firearm possession.

Even President Joe Biden’s alleged influence peddling in his son’s foreign business dealings has not been a hot topic in the GOP primary race.

That’s because there’s a growing belief among some Republicans that fixating on the Bidens’ legal issues and complaints of a judicial double standard could only help Trump, who’s facing criminal indictments in four separate cases.

“The reason Trump’s opponents aren’t talking about it is because talking about Biden corruption and problems plays right into Trump’s entire narrative,” Gregg Keller, a Republican strategist in Missouri, told Politico. “I’m not surprised they’re not talking about it.”

Chuck Coughlin, a veteran political strategist in Arizona, agreed.

“Do Republicans realize when they bring up the Hunter Biden stuff that they’re just helping Trump?” Coughlin said, Politico reported Tuesday.

“Why do Trump’s work of defending Trump — bringing up the Biden comparison — when Hunter Biden’s going to get the book thrown at him, anyway?”

Avoidance of the Hunter Biden issue was obvious during the first GOP presidential debate, which Trump skipped. The first son received just two passing references during the event.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told ABC News this past weekend that Hunter Biden is “not on the ballot.”

Even Joe Biden’s alleged misconduct isn’t resonating with some people.

“There is a consistent majority belief that Hunter Biden behaved unethically, inappropriately — doesn’t really matter how you ask it — wrong,” said Chris Jackson, head of public polling for Ipsos, Politico reported. “But it doesn’t look like people outside the Republican base are blaming Joe Biden for that or saying that it indicates some kind of problem with Joe Biden.”

Although House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has signaled he might move forward with an impeachment inquiry against the president over alleged corruption related to his son’s business dealings, those vying for the GOP presidential nomination aren’t focused on the issue.

“It doesn’t have the votes,” the adviser told Politico. “You risk looking ineffective by saying, ‘We should do this.'”

An Ipsos/ABC poll in early August found 39% support the House launching an impeachment inquiry against Biden, with 38% against.

In November 2019, a month before Trump’s first impeachment trial began, 51% said Biden should be impeached because his actions on Ukraine were wrong.

Coughlin said voters are more concerned about the economy and other issues that are unrelated to impeachment or Hunter Biden.

“The last cycle was a debacle enough, and this would only add to that, to the narrative that they’re out of touch and they’re not interested in governing,” Coughlin said, Politico reported.

“There’s always that Republican core base, 30 percent of the primary electorate that’s always going to gobble up all of this stuff, all of the time. But that’s it. There’s nobody else they’re going to persuade with this argument.”