Donald, Hunter, and Whataboutism

Ever since Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to charges of misdemeanor tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm while addicted to drugs, Republicans, starting with Donald Trump, have denounced favorable treatment for the Biden family while, the Republicans claim, the Justice Department singles out the former president. In addition to comparing apples and oranges, they offer another use of the good old tactic, “whataboutism.”

Whataboutism is a form of manipulation meant to divert attention. The Soviets often used it in response to criticism for violating human rights. When Moscow was reproached for mistreating detainees in the Siberian gulag prison camps, the Soviets responded readily by asking: What about the treatment of Blacks in America? What about lynching in the past and unjustified incarceration now?

In short, whataboutism diverts attention from a problem and avoids it by returning criticism to the critic. The idea is to expose the hypocrisy of the other.

For example, when critics of the Trump administration targeted Republicans, they responded by asking, “What about Hunter Biden’s laptop? And Hillary Clinton’s emails?”

Or with respect to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Republicans asked: “What about the civil unrest of 2020,” making reference to the demonstrations that followed the murder of George Floyd that gave prominence to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Such flawed comparisons clearly fall apart if one pays attention to the arguments in these counterattacks. However, the objective is not to offer a rational comparison but, rather, some would say, to muddle the discourse.

Republicans Turned Specialists

This tactic of diversion, employed by politicians of all stripes, has nevertheless in recent years become the preserve of Republicans. The Trump era is certainly no stranger to this strategy.

Trump’s indictment for possession of government documents has given rise to the inevitable false equivalences concerning the conduct of his main political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, and his alleged hold on the Justice Department.

Republicans, including the former president’s campaign team and close rival for the party’s nomination for presidential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, immediately accused the Justice Department of following Trump’s indictment with what Republicans labled a ruse intended to give the impression that the Biden administration is applying the law equally for Hunter Biden.

“Today proves there is a clear two-tiered system of justice — one for Democrats and one against President Trump,” tweeted Steven Cheung, spokesperson for the Trump campaign. “As President Trump predicted earlier this month, Hunter was given a sweetheart deal that sweeps his crimes under the rug in a blatant attempt to interfere with the 2024 election.” The team engaged in hyperbole, as it does on a daily basis in all its press releases.

Talk about a “sweetheart deal,” during his arrest and indictment in Miami, in connection with the matter of national security of classified documents, Trump was neither stripped of his passport nor asked to pay a bond for his release. If an ordinary citizen had faced similar charges, odds are the treatment would have been different.

Republicans point fingers at a supposed Justice Department bias concerning the classified documents found at Biden’s residence, as well as the department’s weaponization of the case, and are denouncing a witch hunt against Trump while Biden gets off scot-free. They forget, however, that Mike Pence was also exonerated, but that does not fit the argument they want to sell.

It should be added, too, that both Pence and Biden invited the FBI to search their residences for documents while Trump did everything possible to keep the materials in his possession and, moreover, allowed many people to peruse documents deemed confidential at his Florida home.

Yes, But What about Hunter?

Since Monday, Republicans have stepped up their whataboutism by promising to continue their investigation of Hunter Biden and find a connection with his president father. Hunter’s laptop computer, his purported backroom negotiations, payments received by presumed Chinese companies, an alleged scandal whereby the Bidens received millions of dollars in kickbacks from a Ukrainian businessman, you name it.

Not for days, but for several years. And, up to now, no charges have been filed.

During an interview with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Fox News host Bill Hemmer asked the Republican committee chairman for information regarding the findings of this lengthy investigation, notably an alleged $3 million wired to Joe Biden after he left the Obama administration.

“You put your finger on it a second there. You said what were they doing in return for that money. Do you have an answer?” Hemmer asked. “I do not,” Comer replied, to which the Fox News host retorted, “It’s been five years and what do we have for it? Five years is a long time to be investigating.”

Yes, But What about Trump?

All this time, not one of these Republican is heard defending the way Trump handled the classified documents. And Trump continues to provide ammunition to the prosecutors by increasingly incriminating himself every day with incendiary, incoherent and frankly troubling statements.

The tense interview with Bret Baier Monday night on Fox News provided some good examples of this state of affairs, over which lawyers for the former president are pulling their hair out.

This whataboutism, which consists of pointing the finger at another to turn attention away from one’s own guilt, resembles what children learn to do when caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

With Aug. 14 as the potential start date for Trump’s trial on the classified document charges, and an indictment in the case of electoral interference in Georgia due to go public around the same time, the good old ploy of diverting attention from the cookie jar is likely to be employed to the max.