Comedian Jon Stewart has been brazenly critical of President Joe Biden’s family, including a direct attack on the president’s son, Hunter Biden. On Wednesday’s podcast episode, Stewart said that Hunter Biden’s work on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma was corrupt from its beginnings. Hunter Biden joined the Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma Holdings, in 2014.
The appointment of Hunter Biden to Burisma was met with suspicion by many, as they believed he was unqualified for the role. His father, then Vice President Joe Biden, had a hand in President Barack Obama’s Ukrainian policy – leading some conspiracy theorists to suggest that Hunter only got the job because of his White House connections.
Burisma paid Hunter Biden up to $1 million per year for his role with the company.
Jon Stewart criticized Biden’s role at the Ukrainian natural gas company during an appearance on his podcast, which was released to the public on Tuesday. He was discussing Hunter Biden’s possible corruption with British journalist Gabriel Gatehouse. Stewart argued that the American media largely ignored Hunter’s involvement in Ukraine because many conspiracies were perpetuated by Trump and his Advisor Steve Bannon, who was known for “flooding the zone with s**t.”
“Turned out that not only was it real, but the FBI had the bloody laptop all this time,” stated Gatehouse. “Hadn’t really looked at it. Hadn’t figured out … And then it took the establishment media in the US the New York Times and the Washington Post, let’s say the kind of, you know, the big boys… It took them nearly two years to go through the laptop as you expect they would do.”
“Let’s say it was real and people just thought, well, the one thing in it maybe is ‘10 percent to the big guy,’ which is circumstantial at best. But as far as like, look, Hunter Biden being on the board of –“
“Burisma,” stated Gatehouse.
“To me, that’s corruption – straight up off the bat,” concluded Stewart.
Stewart thought that Biden’s son getting a job in Ukraine because of his father’s political status was unfair.
“It’s that it’s corrupt on its face,” he stated. “I don’t need a laptop with like a hint of circumstantial evidence. Now tying Joe Biden to it, that’s going to take some digging.”
President Biden most recently defended his son last month.
“This is a kid who got, not a kid – he’s a grown man. He got hooked on – like many families have had to happen, hooked on drugs. He’s overcome that. He’s established a new life,” President Biden said to CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I’m confident that he is – what he says and does are consistent with what happens. And for example, he wrote a book about his problems and was straightforward about it. I’m proud of him.”
