First son Hunter Biden expressed grave concerns that a “fascist minority” within the US may rip away American democracy in an interview posted one day after his father’s controversial “garbage” comment.
The 54-year-old heavily insinuated that former President Donald Trump, 78, poses a threat to democracy and fretted that a victory for his father’s predecessor “is potentially the end of America as we’ve known it.”
“Losing our democracy to a fascist minority,” the Biden scion told Politico when asked what he is most worried about. “The vast majority of Americans cherish the freedoms each generation has fought to secure.”
“I believe that Donald Trump means what he says: that he will ‘suspend’ the Constitution when it suits him; that he will be ‘a dictator on day one’; that he will use the military to ‘handle’ his political opponents and that he will seek ‘retribution’ against his perceived enemies.”
Democrats have long harped on Trump’s incendiary rhetoric regarding a second term. Both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have warned that democracy is at stake on Election Day.
Recently, the left has seized upon characterizations of the 45th president as a fascist by Trump’s former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.
Trump’s former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, an occasional critic of his onetime boss, recently penned an op-ed for The Post ripping into those claims about him as “deranged.”
Hunter Biden’s fiery critique of Trump came in an interview that was published just one day after his father ignited a firestorm by calling his supporters “garbage.”
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage,” the president said on a campaign call captured on video. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
The White House quickly scrambled to clean up President Biden’s garbage comment, claiming that he was referring to “the hateful rhetoric” from Tony Hinchcliffe and furnishing a transcript that added an apostrophe to “supporters” in the quote.
Many Republicans erupted in fury and drew parallels between the Biden garbage comment and Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables” remark in 2016.
In his interview, Hunter Biden further underscored the stakes of the election.
“This is not a normal election where we are arguing about tax rates or school vouchers. A second Donald Trump presidency is potentially the end of America as we’ve known it,” he told the outlet.
When asked about why the Trump-Vance campaign is “doing so well,” the Biden scion attributed it to the former president’s fear tactics.
“Lies, fear-mongering and disinformation. The same thing he has done since he came down his golden escalator 10 years ago. It’s easier to scare people with lies than educate them with the truth. It’s faster. It sticks to your marrow,” Hunter Biden surmised.
President Biden’s ‘garbage supporters’ comment isn’t the first time he’s attacked Donald Trump voters:
- “It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the — I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.” — Joe Biden at DNC fundraiser in Bethesda, Md., on Aug. 25, 2022.
- “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” — Biden at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on Sept. 1, 2022.
- “We are talking about mega MAGA Republican officials who have been very clear about this, who say, you know, they are pro-police, but then they are also pro-insurrectionists.” — Karine Jean-Pierre at press briefing on Nov. 2, 2022.
- “There is no question that today’s Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists. Their extreme agenda, if carried out, would fundamentally alter the institutions of American Democracy as we know it.” — Biden in Tempe, Ariz., on Sept. 28, 2023.
- “Those MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump and January 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned our democracy.” — Biden in Blue Bell, Pa., on Jan. 5, 2024.
“He has chosen again to run on fear and division. His campaign has been very effective in staying on that message — the same message he’s had for 10 years,” he added. “Voters have rejected Trump and Trumpism in every election since 2016, and I believe they will again in 2024.”
The budding artist in the interview also advised the Harris-Walz campaign to keep up “exactly what they are doing.”
“Harris has proven herself to be an extraordinarily gifted candidate. She has been disciplined, and her campaign reflects the joy and optimism she communicates with every appearance she makes,” he said.
“President Biden chose Kamala Harris to be his vice president and passed the torch to her because of her dedication to service, her unyielding pursuit of justice and her profound decency. These are the qualities that my brother so admired about Harris when he was alive, and I know he would be so proud of her now.”
Hunter Biden has long stoked the ire of conservatives. Trump and his allies have repeatedly called attention to how The Post’s bombshell October 2020 Hunter Biden laptop story was suppressed on social media during the election homestretch.
When Republicans took over Congress, they began heavily scrutinizing Hunter Biden’s vast array of business machinations and accused the family of cashing in on influence peddling.
The first son was convicted on three counts in June related to charges of possession of a firearm while addicted to illicit drugs. In September, he pleaded guilty to nine counts for bilking Uncle Sam of $1.4 million in taxes.
He is slated to face sentencing for the gun case on Dec. 12, and for the tax case on Dec. 16.
President Biden has claimed he won’t pardon his son during his remaining two-and-a-half-plus months in the White House.
Trump, who was found guilty on 34 counts in a Manhattan hush money case and is facing two other pending indictments, has kept the door open to pardoning the younger Biden.
“I wouldn’t take it off the books,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt last week, before asserting that a president’s family shouldn’t be targeted.