The Grind:
On Tuesday, CNN faced criticism for burying the explosive testimony of Devon Archer at the House Oversight Committee, implicating President Joe Biden in his son Hunter’s influence-peddling schemes and suggesting that the president may have lied to the country. Archer’s testimony contradicted Biden’s repeated claims that he never discussed his family’s business affairs with them. He revealed that Hunter Biden had put his father on speakerphone to talk to his business associates on at least 20 occasions.
Additionally, Archer confirmed that Hunter Biden made money from business deals in China, debunking another denial by President Biden. He also testified that Hunter’s role on the board of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma was to pressure his father, who was then the vice president, to stop an investigation into the company. This confirmed an accusation made by former President Donald Trump in 2019, which Democrats vehemently denied during Trump’s impeachment.
The Details:
Despite the significance of Archer’s testimony, CNN did not feature the story as one of its top five headlines on Tuesday morning. Instead, the news outlet led with poll numbers suggesting Democrats are worried about Trump’s potential victory in 2024 and included stories about a recall of a pickup truck. Even on its home page, CNN prioritized stories about “Trump’s legal woes” and made only passing mentions of Hunter Biden in an opinion article and a news article about his access to his father.
Critics of CNN and other news outlets accused them of hiding the news about Archer’s testimony, dismissing it as a “total clown show.” The New York Times, in a headline, repeated a Democrat talking point from Rep. Dan Goldman, claiming that Biden did speak with his son’s associates but not about business.
During his vacation in Delaware, President Biden mocked the idea that he could face impeachment over the emerging allegations, suggesting that Republicans were using this as a diversion from economic issues like inflation. The conservative perspective sees this as an attempt by media outlets to downplay important news about the president’s potential involvement in bribery and corruption.