New Anti-Biden Ukraine Ad Will Be Devastating Blow to Former VP's Campaign
If the Democrats looking for poster boys for white privilege, a viral political advertisement says, they should look no further than Joe and Hunter Biden.
The ad, released last Wednesday, is a concise, one-minute recapitulation of the exploits of Hunter Biden in both China and Ukraine — and how they seem to have a curious connection to the vice presidential activities of his father.
The spot comes from Great America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC that’s been hitting Biden hard of late.
“What does white privilege really look like?” the ad begins.
It then notes that “weeks after Joe Biden visits China as vice president, his son secures a private $1.5 billion deal with the Bank of China.”
It goes on to discuss Hunter’s appointment to the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma came shortly after Biden was named the top diplomat to that country. This came despite the fact that the then-vice president’s son had “no relevant experience” in the sector.
“And before Ukraine’s top prosecutor can investigate the shady dealings of Biden’s son, he gets the prosecutor fired, then brags about it,” the voiceover states.
Then, of course, comes Biden himself, bragging about the firing at a Council on Foreign Relations event in 2018: “I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars … if the prosecutor’s not fired, you’re not getting the money. Well, son of a b—, he got fired.”
“Instead of another failed presidential witch-hunt, House Democrats should investigate one of their own,” the ad concludes.
A URL provided at the end of the ad, InvestigateBiden.com, directs users to a Great America PAC donation site.
According to Ballotpedia, Great America “spent six figures” on the ad. It’s unclear whether this total includes buying television airtime or in what markets the airtime was purchased in.
In terms of the scandals, the ad is certainly not wrong, although the details are rather thinly sketched out here.
Back in December 2013, according to the South China Morning Post, Hunter Biden traveled with his father on Air Force Two to China. Twelve days later, he joined the board of BHR Partners, a newly formed group that would raise $1.5 billion from the Bank of China.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers, however, have stated that at the time he was an unpaid board member that merely advised the board where to invest. According to The Washington Post, it wasn’t until 2017 that Hunter Biden acquired a 10 percent interest in the private equity company.
The timing has still struck many as suspicious, however, particularly given the Burisma scandal.
Whether or not fired Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin was dismissed simply for being incompetent and corrupt — a new report from The Hill’s John Solomon seems to question this, as well as the assumption that Shokin’s investigations into Burisma were wrapped up by the time of the firing — the former vice president clearly had a conflict of interest pressuring the Ukrainians to do so.
And then there’s that video clip. Oh, that video clip.
If only Joe Biden could stop himself from saying things he shouldn’t, my guess is that his lead in the Democratic primary race wouldn’t have evaporated quite as rapidly as it has. Sure, he would have regressed back to the mean, but not like this.
That’s the major problem this ad poses for Biden and his campaign.
If it’s strategically aimed at early primary states, Great America PAC isn’t just going to be reaching Republicans. It’s also going to unsettle Democrats who may be going for the former veep based on the electability factor. The beneficiary of this is likely to be a candidate far more liberal (and unelectable) than Biden is.
Furthermore, it’s yet another sign the Ukraine call could damage Biden more than it does Trump.
Democrats are hurtling toward impeachment even though the polling suggests the outcome would be electorally iffy at best. Meanwhile, the scandal has reignited voters’ interest in Burisma — if, indeed, they had any in the first place — and introduced them to Hunter Biden’s dealings in China.
This is one of the first major ads to attack Joe Biden on this angle. Rest assured, it won’t be the last. Next time, however, the spot could realistically be coming from the Democratic side of the aisle.
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