During a three-hour interview with podcaster Andrew Callaghan, Hunter Biden launched a sharp critique of former President Donald Trump, branding him a ‘f—ing thug’ and accusing him of implementing policies that mirror historical repression against Black Americans. The conversation took a contentious turn as Biden invoked the era of Reconstruction, drawing parallels between current immigration enforcement and the Ku Klux Klan’s role in suppressing Black voters post-Civil War. He referenced the 1873 Colfax massacre, in which a coalition of former Confederate militiamen and the Klan unleashed violence on Black men defending GOP officeholders following a contested election. Biden argued that such tactics of intimidation and violence have persisted throughout American history, resulting in a ‘permanent Jim Crow loop’ that he claims the ‘more perfect union’ has been unable to escape.
Biden’s critique extended to modern-day immigration policies, which he likened to ‘sending masked men to a marginalized group’ and deporting them to ‘prison camps in a foreign country.’ He accused Trump of spearheading efforts to send immigrants to El Salvador’s detention centers, suggesting that such actions constituted a form of systemic oppression akin to 19th-century voter suppression. He further claimed that White men are ’45 times more likely’ to commit violent crimes than illegal immigrants, a statistic that he uses to argue for stricter immigration controls. However, this rhetoric also drew sharp criticism, with White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissing Biden’s remarks as ‘unhinged,’ accusing him of undermining the legitimacy of Trump’s re-election, which she said was due to public dissatisfaction with Biden’s ‘open borders agenda.’
Biden did not limit his criticism to Trump, also targeting former President Barack Obama’s top advisors, including David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, whom he accused of mischaracterizing the political landscape. He claimed that Biden’s victory in the 2020 election was due to his ability to challenge White voters rather than merely appease them, a strategy he argues was misrepresented by the Democratic Party’s leadership. In a pointed remark, Biden asserted that as an 81-year-old Catholic from Scranton, he still held empathy for transgender individuals and immigrants, countering the perception that his political appeal was solely based on pandering to conservative sentiments. He even threatened Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, warning that if he were president, he would demand that Bukele either deport migrants or face military intervention, a statement that has raised eyebrows for its aggressive tone.
The interview, which included references to recent incidents of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic violence, also saw Biden equate these forms of discrimination, a comparison that has drawn further scrutiny. The White House has issued a statement condemning Biden’s rhetoric, asserting that if his critics were correct, then Kamala Harris would already be president. Biden’s remarks have sparked a heated debate about the line between criticizing presidential policies and making inflammatory comparisons to historical atrocities, with many arguing that his comments risk further polarizing an already divided nation. Meanwhile, the interview highlights the continued influence of former presidential family members in shaping political discourse, even as their remarks remain a source of controversy and debate.