A CNN panel went off the rails after a Republican strategist called President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, a “scumbag.”
It happened on Sunday when the panel appeared on “State of the Union” when anchor Kasie Hunt spoke to her panel about the president finally recognizing his seventh grandchild, Navy Biden.
The panel included Republican CNN analyst Scott Jennings and former Biden senior aide Michael LaRosa.
KASIE HUNT: Why now for the Bidens? And honestly, why did it take them so long?
MICHAEL LAROSA: Well, two things. First of all, I respect you as a journalist for having to ask the question, but it is a very gross and uncomfortable subject to talk about as it is.
KASIE HUNT: Well, let’s not call a little girl gross.
MICHAEL LAROSA: No, no, no, no, no, no. I’m talking about the inter sanctum of a family and the privacy of what goes on in a family. And you’re right. That little girl, she should not be weaponized by the Republicans who are down there in Arkansas with conservative lawyers and conservative PR people and posting on their Instagram. They shouldn’t be weaponizing her. And everybody is welcome to make their own personal judgments on the Biden. But it is it is frankly, they are family. They are family. A real family with real feelings, with real struggles and challenges. Like every family. And I guarantee you that the more that the Republicans make this an issue, it will not work. Voters appreciate, voters relate to having struggles in their own families. They root for people with vulnerabilities. They root for people who understand and relate to them. And, you know, ultimately, the Bidens are real family, just like everyone else.
KASIE HUNT: Sure. But Scott Jennings, the president has made being a family man a central part of his political identity.
SCOTT JENNINGS: It’s not Republicans, with all due respect, who made Hunter Biden into a complete scumbag on this and other issues, ignoring his own daughter. For four years and the president of the United States hanging up a stocking for the dog? And not for his seventh grandchild?
KASIE HUNT: Look, we cannot we can also have, we can also have sympathy for people who are struggling with addiction. Let’s keep this conversation respectful!
SCOTT JENNINGS: I listen. I totally agree. And you know where I’m from. A lot of families deal with addiction and you know who ends up picking up the pieces? The grandparents. And in this case, the grandparents would not acknowledge this little girl. It is offensive. But the bottom line is…
KASIE HUNT: But they have now.
SCOTT JENNINGS: Whole, oh, what a hero! The polling must have been brutal! Just must have been brutal!
MICHAEL LAROSA: No one’s ever questioned the heart and integrity of Joe Biden as a family man and as a human being, and the pain and suffering and loss that that man has been through, including the struggles he deals with.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have finally acknowledged the existence of their granddaughter fathered by Hunter Biden.
It took four years and it happened in a late-night Friday news dump with a curt statement to People Magazine that expressed no love whatsoever.
“Hunter and Navy’s mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter, preserving her privacy as much as possible going forward. This is not a political issue, it’s a family matter. Jill and I only want what is best for all of our grandchildren, including Navy,” they said.
Isn’t that how you would talk about your grandchildren?
And lets look at how Hunter Biden has worked to foster a relationship. He has, until a paternity test proved his fatherhood, denied that Navy was his.
He then worked to prevent her from having the Biden family name, petitioned to lower his child support and made no effort to meet her.
Does this statement mean that President Biden and his son Hunter will finally want to meet Navy? Will she get to ride on Air Force One like his other grandkids? Will she be at the White House on holidays and in family photos?
A source informed People Magazine that the child support dispute between the child’s mother, Lunden Roberts, and Hunter has dictated how the relationship has been so far.
“You have to remember there were some fairly contentious legal proceedings between Navy’s parents happening until just a few weeks ago. As grandparents, the Bidens are following Hunter’s lead,” the source said. “They are — and have been — giving Hunter and Lunden the space and time to figure things out.”
“Thousands of families have faced similar circumstances, working it out in private, versus the spotlight,” the source said. “At the center is a 4-year-old girl and everyone wants what is best for her, including all of her grandparents.”