A prison sentence for Hunter Biden is the last thing Donald Trump wants

Jail time for the president’s son creates a golden prospect of imprisonment for Trump

June 11, 2024 18:14(Update 18:30)

Another day, another court ruling against Donald Trump. This time he wasn’t actually at the trial. Hunter Biden, the president’s unfortunate son, appeared in court to be sentenced for lying to buy a gun.

If only Hunter had succeeded, Trump could have advanced his conspiracy theories about the American justice system being in thrall to the “Biden crime family.” Instead, a jury in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, found Biden Jr. guilty on all three counts against him.

Cue a massive attack of cognitive dissonance in Trump’s Republican Party.

Honesty is overrated. Trump lies as easily as he breathes (everyone does it). And Republicans love guns. Don’t worry, they hate the Bidens. Surely a corrupt, pro-democracy justice system wouldn’t convict him? But it is so.

Moreover, most legal experts believe that Hunter Biden will likely receive a prison sentence as well.

Moreover, most legal experts believe that Hunter Biden will likely receive a prison sentence as well.

This would make the great prospect of Trump’s imprisonment (he was convicted on July 11 for hush money payments) less politically controversial.

This does not diminish the suffering of President Biden and the humiliation suffered by his son – the first child of a sitting US president to be convicted of a crime.

The big question is what impact this will have on the election. The answer is probably: not much.

Hunter’s difficult, drug-addicted story is familiar to most Americans and will resonate with the experiences of many people, as well as their friends and relatives. Most Americans seemed to be able to separate Joe Biden’s activities from those of his son.

Joe Biden has said he will not pardon Hunter, so it will be very difficult for Republicans to use this against the president.

They could try to make political capital on the events of a year ago, when Hunter obtained a plea deal on the charges against him, but it all fell apart when the judge dismissed his commutation. But it was a Trump-appointed prosecutor who proposed the deal.

At Maga’s next rally, Trump will undoubtedly deliver vague and deceitful monologues about the Bidens. But most people – including key floating voters who don’t like him but worry about immigration, inflation and housing costs – won’t care either.