Hunter Biden’s conviction to weigh heavily on president ahead of Trump rematch (2024)

Washington: If you needed another example that this year’s US election will be unlike any other, look no further than the convictions of the former president and the current president’s son.

Two weeks after Donald Trump was found guilty of a criminal conspiracy to cover up a sex scandal, Hunter Biden has now been found guilty of illegally buying a gun while he was addicted to crack cocaine, making him the first child of a sitting president to become a felon.

Both cases have embroiled the two leading candidates vying for another term in the White House.

Both involve offences that took place years ago and could now lead to jail.

And both are set against the backdrop of a bitter election rematch that is playing out in the courts as much as the campaign trail.

The responses by Trump and President Joe Biden, however, couldn’t be more stark.

Within moments of being convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial, Trump went on an angry tirade about his “rigged” conviction. He hasn’t stopped since.

Biden, on the other hand, has ruled out pardoning Hunter if he ends up being jailed, noting today that he will “respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal”.

But while the child of a sitting president becoming a convicted criminal is hardly a good look, the verdict alone is unlikely to change how Americans vote when they head to the polls in November.

Firstly, Joe Biden is seeking election, not Hunter, whose personal travails, from drugs and prostitutes, to his use of the Biden family name to further his interests, are his own flawed choices and have been well documented over many years.

Secondly, there’s little evidence to suggest that enough voters have been paying attention to the case, when issues such as immigration, cost-of-living pressures, the war in Gaza, and even Biden’s age, are far more pressing for Americans.

And thirdly, the guilty verdict against Hunter, which stemmed from charges brought forward by a Trump-appointed prosecutor, delivered in the courtroom of a Trump-appointed judge, somewhat undercuts the notion of a “two-tiered” justice system that favours Democrats.

Indeed, even some of Trump’s Republican allies struggled to attack the outcome: Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, for instance, posted on X that Hunter’s “gun conviction is kinda dumb”, while Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie noted: “Hunter might deserve to be in jail for something, but purchasing a gun is not it.”

“There are millions of marijuana users who own guns in this country, and none of them should be in jail for purchasing or possessing a firearm against current laws,” Massie added.

The verdict is nonetheless likely to weigh heavily on America’s oldest president as he campaigns for one of the most consequential elections in US history.

Hunter, after all, is the only surviving son of an 81-year-old father who has long worried that his troubled child could end up in jail or relapsing into addiction.

What’s more, Hunter also faces a separate trial in September, two months before the election, on more serious charges relating to his alleged failure to pay $US1.4 million in taxes at a time when he was addicted to cocaine and spending money on drugs, sex workers and luxury items.

“Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today,” Biden said after the verdict. “So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride in seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery.”

Biden’s protectiveness over his son is understandable given the family’s tragic history. In 1972, Biden, then a 30-year-old senator, lost his first wife Neilia and their 15-month-old daughter Naomi when a tractor trailer smashed into their car near their home in Delaware.

Four decades later, his eldest son Beau, who survived the crash along with Hunter, died of brain cancer.

Amid the grief, Hunter’s drug addiction – and the unlawful purchase of a firearm that led to his trial – soon followed.

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The verdict comes just weeks before the first presidential debate, which is due to take place on June 27.

It is not yet known how Hunter’s conviction will alter how Biden addresses Trump’s status as a newly-minted criminal, or how Trump will use it to rattle the president given how many Americans have been affected by addiction.

What is clear, however, is that a bruising election campaign is about to get even wilder.

Equally clear is that no one should be above the law, not even the son of sitting US president.

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