Opinion: How Hunter Biden Became His Father’s ‘Gatekeeper’
Fighting for his political life is a familiar even invigorating role for Joe Biden. He’s been discounted enough times before but to be “pushed out,” his words, after winning every primary and more than enough delegates to secure the nomination—it’s not going to happen, he says. “I’m not going anywhere.”
His family is standing with him, his wife Jill and sister Valerie, who Democrats relied upon to provide wise counsel—not just cheerleading. His son, Hunter, has been seen at the White House so much lately that one well-connected lawyer/lobbyist Democrat dubbed him “the acting chief of staff. He’s the gatekeeper. He’s the one who’s bucking up his dad.”
Hunter is the X factor here, wanting to encourage his father like deceased brother Beau did, and not wanting the stress of his felony convictions to hamper his father. Having Hunter on the scene is not helping Biden politically, but that’s not what this is about. A Democrat who worked for Biden earlier in his career says simply, “Biden stood by him through all the darkest times. This is more of a family thing than a political thing. It has nothing to do with his criminal cases, it’s much more about how the family operates.”