Anyone with a loved one who has struggled with addiction can't help but sympathize with Hunter Biden and his family. “The world is full of people like Hunter Biden, people whose situations have spiraled out of control and who desperately need someone to believe they can get back on their feet and get their lives back together,” Patti Davis, a recovered drug addict and daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, wrote in The New York Times last week. “You don't hear about them on the evening news.”
The tragedy, pain and trauma of drug addiction are understood by millions of Americans, and as Davis noted, “some observers have argued that if Hunter Biden were not the president's son, he would never have been put on trial for buying a gun while he was addicted to drugs, because he only possessed the gun for 11 days and it was not used in a crime.”
The fact that a prosecutor appointed by felon and former President Donald Trump had to bring a type of case that is rarely prosecuted only intensified Hunter Biden's insecurity about shouldering the burden of being the president's son. “While former President Donald Trump complains that he's the victim of selective prosecution for his brazen attempt to defy a federal subpoena, Hunter Biden may actually be experiencing it,” David Graham wrote in The Atlantic. Even one juror said the prosecution was a “waste” of taxpayer money.
The reaction of many MAGA factions, and the right-wing media captured by them, seemed to be disappointment that the so-called “rigged” justice system wasn’t so rigged after all, another symptom of the moral gulf and twisted logic that has come to characterize MAGA-era politics.
Follow this authorJennifer Rubin's opinion
In virtually every respect, throughout this very public ordeal, the Biden family embodied the dignity, decency, and unconditional love that so many dependent narcissists and other damaged adults were denied as children. (I am reminded of Henry Kissinger's criticism of Richard M. Nixon: “Can you imagine what this man would have been like if somebody had loved him?”)
First Lady Jill Biden regularly attended her son's trials, and President Biden has never criticized the justice system. Biden promised to not pardon or commute his son's sentence, and embraced him after the trial. “Jill and I love our son and are proud of the man he is. Many families whose loved ones have struggled with addiction understand the sense of pride they feel seeing their loved one overcome hardship, recover and become strong and resilient,” the president said in a written statement. He added, “While Hunter is considering an appeal, I accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process.”
Trump alternated between rages and sleep throughout his trial, where he was convicted of falsifying documents to cover up hush money paid to porn stars before the 2016 presidential election. His wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner did not appear once to voice their support. Only his son Eric was in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
During and after Trump's trial, Trump and his MAGA minions attacked the justice system, slandered the judge and jury, and refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the verdict. Trump's bizarre phone call to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) demanding that “this verdict has to be overturned” was emblematic of not only Trump's ignorance of the Constitution, but also the MAGA movement's determination to burn down a justice system that cannot be corrupted to do his bidding.
At worst, cynical political coverage and commentators on the two criminal trials often repeated the MAGA propaganda that a conviction of Trump might work in his favor. Hunter Biden's case was frequently portrayed as a potential “problem” or “embarrassment” for the president in an election year. (Trump has not benefited from either trial, although some polls have shown Biden improving by a few points.) The New York Times even seemed to question President Biden's judgment in inviting Hunter to the White House.
In recent weeks, the Biden family has demonstrated qualities long considered “public virtues”: respect, empathy, and civility. (Even that term now sounds quaint.) Republicans once argued that a president needed to embody these traits. But no longer. Now, MAGA Republicans and their twisted cult leaders glorify cruelty, vindictiveness, and power-lust.
This vast moral chasm is most starkly evident in the actions and rhetoric of the candidates (and their supporters) in these two cases. Now the questions become clearer: Which candidate should we emulate? And what kind of country do we want to live in?
