CNN anchor Jake Tapper did not mince words when discussing Hunter Biden during a recent appearance on Katie Couric’s podcast Next Question. Tapper joined Axios journalist Alex Thompson to promote their book, Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.
During the discussion, Tapper took issue with Hunter Biden’s significant presence within the White House, describing his role as “almost like a chief of staff.”
“It’s bizarre because I think he is provably, demonstrably unethical, sleazy and prone to horrible decisions,” Tapper said.
Couric responded with a wry, “Tell me how you really feel.”
“Just look at the record: after his brother died, he cheated on his wife with his brother’s widow and then got her addicted to crack. That’s just one thing I could say. I don’t have a lot of personal regard for him…I barely have ever met him. I’ve met him like once or twice.”
Tapper contrasted this with his impression of Beau Biden, President Biden’s late son, whom he described as a person of integrity. Beau served as Delaware’s attorney general and was seen as a rising star before his death from cancer in 2015, while he was campaigning for governor.
“But Hunter is not [everything Beau was], and the idea of letting him drive the family car, as it were, is just really, really questionable,” Tapper said.
Both Tapper and Thompson suggested that shielding Hunter from legal scrutiny may have played a role in President Biden’s decision to pursue re-election. Thompson added that, in his view, Hunter occasionally took advantage of his relationship with his father.
Fox News reports of Tapper that earlier in Biden’s presidency, he was hesitant to journalistically delve into issues involving Hunter, once referring to some of the claims as “too disgusting” to broadcast on CNN back in 2020. But by 2023, he had become more vocal in criticizing the administration over Hunter Biden’s foreign business activities.