In the wake of Hunter Biden’s conviction on federal gun charges Tuesday, right-wing media personalities sought to downplay the jury’s decision, falsely claiming the case was a “fake trial” designed to “cover up” other supposed crimes committed by the president and his family.
The reaction showcased how far to the fringes the right-wing and pro-Trump media ecosystem has drifted in recent years, with high-profile personalities defaulting to conspiracy theories and innuendo in response to inconvenient political news.
“Hunter Biden guilty. Yawn,” right-wing talk show host Charlie Kirk wrote. “The true crimes of the Biden Crime Family remain untouched. This is a fake trial trying to make the Justice system appear ‘balanced.’ Don’t fall for it.”
While right-wing figures and Republicans have long pushed the narrative that President Joe Biden has been involved in criminal activity, their claims have repeatedly fallen flat. But the reaction rippled throughout the pro-Trump world Tuesday with other far-right influencers and Trump-boosting Republicans echoing the sentiment.
“They went after Hunter on his gun stuff to make you overlook all his Ukraine stuff,” Jack Posobiec, the far-right conspiracy theorist and Real America’s Voice host, wrote on X.
Donald Trump’s campaign also slammed the verdict, pushing the conspiracy theory that the president had taken money from foreign governments.
“This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine,” the Trump campaign said a statement to CNN. “Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit.”
There is no evidence Joe Biden has received large sums of money from China or has otherwise gained wealth as a result of his son’s business dealings abroad.
The former president’s son Donald Trump Jr. also alleged in a live conversation on X that the younger Biden’s trial was “not what it seems.”
“It’s trying to create that illusion of equal justice under the law,” he claimed.
Instead, Trump Jr. alleged the case was a “cover up” for the “real charges and all the things that tied back to Joe Biden himself lapse, drop, expire in terms of statute of limitations.”
Many of the former president’s supporters also reacted with similar sentiments.
“They want you focused on the shiny little object of Hunter’s gun so you’re not focused on the Bidens making bank selling out America,” Monica Crowley, the former Trump administration official and Fox News contributor, wrote on X.
The reaction stood in contrast to just last month when former President Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts in the New York hush money trial. For others in the right-wing sphere, it’s simple; Trump’s case was a political hit job while Hunter Biden’s case was a clear case of someone breaking the law.
“We have gone over a cliff,” Fox News host Jeanine Pirro said shortly after Trump was found guilty. “This is a new era in America, and I think it goes against the ilk of who we are as Americans and our faith in the criminal justice system.”
But on Tuesday after the jury delivered its guilty verdict, Pirro applauded the Delaware judge - a Trump appointee - for her handling of the Hunter Biden case.
“This is a no-nonsense judge who took this case, showed America how a case worked and moved it right from opening statement to verdict,” she said.
Virginia Rep. Bob Good, who leads the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, offered a similar assessment.
“Hunter Biden is convicted of an actual crime. Donald Trump was railroaded by a political prosecutor and a biased judge,” he posted on X.
Meanwhile, Mark Levin, the right-wing talk radio personality and Fox News weekend host, wrote that Biden was convicted “in a real trial (not a farce like Manhattan).”
Still, other Trump boosting Republicans reacted with a shrug .
“The Hunter Biden gun conviction is kinda dumb tbh,” Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote on X.
