Of all the things I’d love to see during the 2020 presidential campaign, I think Donald Trump Jr. has proposed my favorite. In an interview that aired on “Axios on HBO” Sunday night, the president’s eldest son proposed an epic idea.
“You know what will be great, I’ll let you host it. You moderate a debate between Hunter Biden and myself,” he told Jim Vandehei, the co-founder of Axios. “We can go full transparency. We show everything, and we can talk about all of the places where I’m supposedly grifting, but Hunter Biden isn’t,” he added.
Trump Jr. was referring to how the younger Biden has benefited from his father’s political career in extraordinary ways, including his infamous board position with Burisma Holdings. Trump Jr., in comparison, has not profited from his father’s position as president.
“Hunter Biden, his father becomes VP. All of a sudden he goes over to Ukraine and he’s making 83 grand a month,” Trump Jr. noted.
Vandehei countered that Don Jr. has done paid speeches and has a best-selling book, which was published in November, but Don. Jr. noted he’s done paid speeches for over a decade, well before his father even ran for president. He even offered to release his tax returns to prove his point.
“Let’s talk about who profited off of whose public service. Happy to do it. Let’s make it happen,” he said.
I have to say this is such a great idea that I’d even pay money to watch this debate. But, I don’t think we should get our hopes up. Hunter Biden is likely going to be kept on a tight leash for the remainder of the campaign. He doesn’t exactly have the best record of adhering to the narrative. While Joe Biden was claiming he never spoke with his son about his business dealings, Hunter literally contradicted that claim in an interview with The New Yorker. Hunter Biden has repeatedly been put into positions he wasn’t qualified for, and, let’s face it, hasn’t proven himself to the contrary. Him on a debate stage with Don Jr. would be a disaster for the Biden campaign. I’d be shocked if they even issue an official response.
Still, it’s fun to imagine how such a debate would go.
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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