Biden should be pleased that his son is convicted

Hunter Biden

So the verdict against the son could benefit President Biden

Wolfgang Hansson

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.

Published 18.47

Joe Biden with son Hunter. Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

As a father, Joe Biden cannot of course be happy about the sentence against his son Hunter.

But as president, he should be very pleased that there was no acquittal.

There are several reasons why the son's impeachment could help him win the presidential election.

Quick version

• President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, has been convicted of lying about his drug addiction in order to buy a gun. There is potential for this to benefit President Biden in the next election.
• The impeachment means less ammunition for Republicans who have long tried to use Hunter's behavior against President Biden.
•  Ex-President Trump called the verdict a "distraction" from the Biden family's alleged more serious crimes, while many leading Republicans did not comment on the ruling.
  

Just two weeks have passed since former President Donald Trump was convicted by a jury of crimes that could land him in prison.

Yesterday there was a conviction against President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden for lying about his drug addiction in order to buy a gun. On paper, it could get him 25 years in prison.

Republicans have long tried to use Hunter Biden's business and somewhat chaotic life to get at the president. Therefore, it must have been a paradoxical relief for Joe Biden that the son was convicted.

Imagine the outcry that would have come from Republican representatives and presidential candidate Trump if Hunter had gone free.

Claims had been thrown out about the legal system's double standards, about how the "deep state" intervened to protect Biden's son. About how everything is rigged to stop Biden's challenger.

An acquittal would have been a bummer for Trump in the election campaign.

          
           Donald Trump at a campaign event on Sunday. Photo: John Locher/AP

Now the ex-president contented himself with calling the verdict "a distraction" from what he claims are the Biden family's more serious crimes.

It is no coincidence that most leading Republicans refused to comment on the outcome. They simply have no political gain from it.

On the contrary, the verdict seems to disprove that there is a "weaponization" of the American legal system in which the Democrats are exploiting it for political purposes.

Many are also likely to be struck by the contrast in behavior between Biden and Trump when it comes to handling the two court rulings. Then, of course, with the difference that while Trump was sentenced personally, it was only Biden's son who ended up in trouble with justice.

While Trump snorted with outrage at the impeachment stage and complained that there was a witch hunt against him, Biden allowed his son's trial to begin and proceed without any involvement.

On the contrary, Joe Biden declares that he accepts the court's decision and that he does not intend to pardon his son.

For Trump's core voters, the difference in demeanor probably doesn't matter, but I still imagine the independent voters take note and ponder which of the two is more suitable to lead the country.

It will not lead to hordes of voters suddenly shifting their vote to Biden, but on the margins it may still play a certain role in the swing states where the election is actually decided.

The two court rulings appear to show that the American justice system is still working despite Trump's outraged statements to the contrary. In both cases, it was a 12-man jury that made the decision. Not a judge.

Everything that points to democratic society still functioning despite the polarization in the United States favors Biden above all.

Trump's accounting crimes probably wouldn't have led to prosecution if it weren't for the fact that he was running for president and trying to put the American people behind the scenes of his affair with a porn star.

Likewise, Hunter Biden's crimes would not have resulted in prosecution if he had not been the president's son. But while Joe Biden accepted both the charges and the sentence, Trump has made threatening statements against both judges and witnesses.

President Biden stands up for the rule of law while Trump tries to tear it down.

Few US legal experts seem to believe in jail time for either Trump or Hunter Biden. It remains to be seen if Joe Biden behaves as calmly if the son is sentenced to a long prison sentence against the odds.

On at least one count, the conviction complicates matters for President Biden.

He cannot use the fact that Trump is now a convicted criminal in the same way in the election campaign. Something he could otherwise have already used when the two collide in their first debate at the end of June. Any criticism Biden utters against Trump for not being a law-abiding citizen risks being thrown back in the president's face with reference to the verdict against Hunter.