Two presidents, two sons, different standards of outrage
Al Jazeera
Hunter Biden was accused of influencing policy for personal gain. His Republican critics are not upset over Don Trump Jr’s potential conflicts of interest.
Republicans have long accused Hunter Biden — the son of President Joe Biden — of taking a board seat on a Ukrainian gas company called Burisma, which he held from 2014 to 2019, in exchange for influence in US – Ukraine policy decisions.
The claims led to investigations in both the House and the Senate, which led to myriad issues, as the conservative-led inquiries became a means to undermine President Joe Biden’s credibility by targeting his son.
But the same Senators and House members behind the investigations are now silent as Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, takes board seats at two companies in advance of his father’s second term. The move, like Hunter Biden’s board seat, raises concerns that his inclusion could sway key policy decisions affecting those businesses.
In the last week, Trump Jr took a board seat at Public Square — an e-commerce platform that labels itself as “anti-woke” and aligns itself with conservative brands and products, and Unusual Machines — a Florida-based manufacturer of drone components.
Hunter Biden’s board seat, the alleged conflicts that came along with it, and the plethora of unrelated crimes and personal issues – including tax evasion and the lying about drug use when attempting to buy a firearm, for which President Biden recently pardoned him — prompted right-wing outrage.
