Is Hunter Biden’s laptop fair game for Trump in the current debate?

President Joe Biden implied his son’s laptop was a Russian plot during the last presidential debate. He won’t have that option this time around.

While Biden will be ready to talk about former President Donald Trump‘s felony conviction, first son Hunter Biden‘s troubles may also be top of mind for politicos tuning in.

When the two presidential candidates last debated four years ago, Joe Biden went after Trump’s credibility, saying, “The character of the country is on the ballot. Our character is on the ballot.”

Trump fired back with the laptop.

“Don’t give me the stuff about how you’re this innocent baby,” Trump said. “Joe, they’re calling you a corrupt politician! Take a look at the laptop from hell.”

Though moderator Kristen Welker tried to cut in with a question, Joe Biden was ready to address the allegation.

“There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan,” Joe Biden said. “Four or five heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.”

Four years later, Hunter Biden is in a gun charges trial in which the laptop was entered as evidence, and House Republicans allege the letter Joe Biden referenced was coordinated by campaign advisor Antony Blinken, who is now Secretary of State.

It’s unclear whether Trump will bring up the laptop again in the June 27 debate, especially because Joe Biden will have an obvious rebuttal.

“The easy answer is ‘I’m sorry, you want to talk about my son being on trial when you were just found guilty in the state of New York?’” Democratic strategist Stefan Hankin said. “And then you pivot into all of President Trump’s challenges.”

Most viewers will be much more interested in Trump’s conviction than anything going on with Joe Biden’s son, Hankin says, though there is one thing he said the president should avoid.

“If Biden brings [the conviction] up first, it gives Trump the opportunity to sort of both-sides it, which you don’t want to get into,” he said. “Let Trump say something about the laptop first, and then you can respond.”

Like Trump’s “hush money” payments, the controversy over Hunter Biden’s laptop emerged before the 2020 election and has been heavily covered in the media in the years since. What’s different now is the younger Biden is on criminal trial now in Delaware and the president has the power to pardon him, though he’s denied he’d use it.

Republican strategist John Feehery says the laptop issue, and Joe Biden’s discounting of it using a now-debunked letter, can be relevant if Trump establishes it’s part of a wider pattern.

“Biden lied about Hunter’s laptop. The question for debate: What else has he lied about?” Feehery said.
“I think Trump has to spell that out, from the border to the economy to crime.”

Other Republicans definitely think the various allegations surrounding Hunter Biden and James Biden, the president’s younger brother, remain relevant. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) spoke about them on Fox News on Wednesday night.

“This 60-page criminal referral for Hunter & James Biden is based on HARD evidence,” Comer posted on X. “The President’s son & brother peddled lies to protect the Big Guy, Joe Biden.”

House Republicans also brought up Hunter Biden during a five-hour hearing with Attorney General Merrick Garland this week.

“Mr. Attorney General, the public has seen through the claims you’ve made today about fair and impartial pursuit of justice,” Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) said. “They see that lady justice’s blindfold has slipped off, and they need look no further than the treatment by your department of former President Trump and current defendant Hunter Biden.”

Democrats countered that the younger Biden’s trial, which is being prosecuted by a Department of Justice special counsel, is itself proof of the agency’s impartiality.

While Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a felony, Hunter Biden is the first child of a sitting president to become a criminal defendant.

Joe Biden has not shied away from his son in the wake of the allegations or trial.

“It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him,” Joe Biden said during a 2023 interview with MSNBC when asked about his son’s legal problems.

First lady Jill Biden spent her 73rd birthday attending the Delaware trial, as did other members of the Biden family. The president wasn’t there but had been with his son just a few days prior.

“I am the president, but I am also a Dad,” Joe Biden wrote in a Monday morning statement. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us. A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean.”

But while Joe Biden hopes to be seen as a father sticking by a troubled son, Trump will likely try to paint him as someone who is covering up his own corruption.

Hunter Biden, like Trump, has also described his trial as politically motivated, saying in a 2023 interview that “they’re trying to destroy a presidency.”

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Tom Cochran, a Democratic strategist and partner at 720 Strategies, says the two candidates have better things to talk about during the debate.

“I’d love to see us avoid the schoolyard bully path [this debate] seems to be heading into and focus on the issues voters are interested in hearing about: the economy, immigration, reproductive rights, and healthcare,” he said. “My own guess is Trump will bring up the laptop comment and Biden will respond with comments about the conviction.”