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Ahead of a July Fourth weekend, it’s common to see political leaders publish guest columns about the nation’s traditions and principles. Indeed, it’s largely the point of the holiday: Independence Day offers an opportunity to reflect on the importance of the American experiment.
But ahead of this year’s holiday, some prominent House GOP leaders had something else on their minds. The Washington Post noted:
Republicans are promising they will target the president’s son, Hunter Biden, with investigations if they win back the House majority in the midterm elections. In an op-ed published Friday in the New York Post, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), along with Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Comer (R-Ky.), vowed to investigate Biden’s business dealings, calling them “shady” and citing accusations made in a New York Post article that claimed Hunter Biden used his father’s connections for his deals.
The Washington Post’s report added that the claims at the heart of the Republicans’ piece have already been “repeatedly proven to be false.”
But when it comes to Hunter Biden, accuracy doesn’t appear to be especially important to GOP lawmakers.
Part of what makes this odd is the party’s messaging. On the one hand, Republicans routinely insist that Democrats aren’t prioritizing the issues voters care about. On the other hand, Republicans also insist they’ll focus their attention on the president’s son — someone who’s never worked in government at any level — just as soon as voters give them power to do so.
But also of interest is the intensity of the GOP’s fixation. Last month, in the wake of deadly mass shootings, Sen. Ron Johnson was asked if there were any potentially life-saving measures he might be willing to support. “Before we pass anything new,” the Wisconsin Republican replied, “let’s enforce the laws we already have. Let’s start with Hunter Biden.”
A month earlier, Dana Milbank examined recent rhetoric from Republican Rep. James Comer, who’s slated to lead the House Oversight Committee in the event of a GOP takeover. Summarizing the Republican congressman’s outlandish claims, the columnist explained, “So, to recap, Hunter Biden controls cobalt in Congo, fentanyl in Mexico, coronavirus in Wuhan and war in Ukraine. It is just a matter of time until Republicans find a Hunter Biden angle in Jeffrey Epstein’s demise and UFOs off the coast of California. ‘Where’s Hunter?’ went the popular refrain at Trump rallies. Now we know. In the Republican imagination, Hunter is everywhere.”
In March, Donald Trump went so far as to publicly call on Vladimir Putin’s government to uncover and release dirt on the American president’s son.
I don’t doubt that there are some voters who are likely to support Republican candidates in the fall because of concerns about inflation, immigration, and/or other issues prominently featured in GOP attack ads. But those expecting GOP policymakers to actually focus on those issues in the next Congress, and propose meaningful governing solutions, are likely to be disappointed.
The party is already going out of its way to tell voters what it cares about most.