He has no reason to play nice as he moves beyond scandals and salacious photos.
By Shalise Manza Young
Hunter Biden has no desire to play nice with his critics.
And really, why should he?
The son of former President Joe Biden has become a MAGA slayer of sorts in recent months, doing interviews across the ideological spectrum — in May, he sat down with right-wing conspiracy theorist extraordinaire Candace Owens, and this month he was with esteemed former CNN reporter Jim Acosta — and prolifically sharing wit and wisdom on social media.
He’s incredibly self-effacing, as exhibited in a response to his early-June tweet celebrating his seven-years-sober milestone. One troll doubted Biden’s sobriety, claiming that it was Biden’s baggie of cocaine that was found in the White House in July 2023. “It most definitely was not,” Biden quipped. “I would never have forgotten my drugs.”
Already a frequent F-bomb dropper (and, really, only the best of us are), Biden unleashed a barrage when he was asked during an interview with VladTV what he’d say to Donald Trump if the doddering octogenarian were to sit down next to him.
“I would tell him to f– his f–ing self. That’s what I would tell him,” Biden said, leaning forward in his chair. “And please leave.”
Biden swatted away expected likely criticism that he should be civil to the president of the United States.
“This man has tried to torture me for f–ing 10 years. The s–t that he says about my dad. The s–t that he says about my dad. His obsession with tormenting my dad, hanging a picture of an autopen on the Colonnade [instead of a formal portrait], demeaning him, and all the things that he’s said about him.
“And anyone would expect me to do anything outside of, which I would never do, physical violence against that person? What the f–k kind of man would I be if I didn’t tell him to go f–k himself? What kind of man would I be?”
He wrapped by noting that he’s challenged Donald Trump Jr. to a UFC cage match three times but hasn’t heard back. “That’s how I’m going to pay all my debt,” Biden said, smiling.
Biden has been through hell and back, and he acknowledges that much of that was his own doing. Now 56, Biden wasn’t even 3 years old when a car crash killed his mother Neilia and baby sister Naomi; Hunter and older brother Beau were in the car and survived. Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, had several broken bones, and Hunter suffered a fractured skull and traumatic brain injuries. It was while the boys were recovering that their father was first sworn in as a U.S. senator from Delaware.
Since 2018, Biden has faced state and federal investigations for tax evasion and money laundering, for not registering as a foreign agent for business dealings with other countries, and for unlawful possession of firearms as a drug user.
Likely not coincidentally, nearly all of the investigations into Hunter Biden began after Trump started publicly targeting him in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, when he faced off against Joe Biden. In the years since, it’s been clear that Trump and his mindless minions spent countless hours and taxpayer dollars demonizing Hunter Biden as a way to attack his father.
(Biden did skirt some laws, though they look like jaywalking citations compared with the ongoing, brazen corruption of Trump and his sons. That’s not an excuse; it’s just reality.)
In a disgusting display that highlighted just how incendiary MAGA behavior toward the Bidens had gotten, at a January 2023 hearing on Hunter Biden’s taxes, now-former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) presented sexual posters of Hunter Biden.
In June 2024, Hunter Biden was found guilty on three charges of federal gun violations. President Biden angered people on both sides of the aisle when he issued a full and unconditional pardon of his son before leaving office. But given how relentlessly MAGA cultists had gone after Hunter and the high likelihood that they would have continued, it’s understandable that the president would protect his son.
Though Hunter Biden told Acosta he has no interest in becoming a candidate himself, his transparency and truthfulness not just about his own struggles but also the state of the Democratic Party have led to many asking whether he’d consider running for office. He recently joked with California Gov. Gavin Newsom that he would join a ticket as Newsom’s running mate.
After Democratic socialists had a banner night in the New York primary elections on June 23, Hunter Biden offered detailed advice for Democrats, whose top leaders have been loath to embrace progressive politics.
Among Biden’s observations: Authenticity from candidates is “measurable”; the candidates who showed conviction, not caution, on issues such as the cost of living and Gaza were successful; “the middle is not a strategy — it’s an empty room”; and, “don’t fear the base, court it.”
It’s the type of talk many have been clamoring for, those tired of getting stuck with “corporate Dems” and their devotion to big-money donors over actual constituents, knowing when they step into the voting booth they’re often left with selecting a bad option or a worse option.
Telling Acosta that he likes Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and California Gov. Gavin Newsom seemingly runs counter to his belief in authenticity as a necessity, but Biden also praised Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia), who has been spitting fire on the campaign trail of late.
Hunter Biden has no desire to play nice with his critics — but he does want the world to get to know him as the man he is now, beyond the scandals and salacious photos.
Or, as he recently posted, “People act like I am hiding something. I am the least mysterious man in America. You have seen everything.
“Literally everything.”
Shalise Manza Young is an award-winning writer focused on the intersections of race, gender, politics, and sports. She is the director of track and field at Phillips Andover Academy. She and her family, including Contrarian Pet of the Week Coco, live in Boston. You can find her on Bluesky @shalisemyoung.