The View co-host Ana Navarro on Monday afternoon defended comments she made about Joe and Hunter Biden during the ABC morning talk show after some conservatives online took issue with her saying that the story of the younger Biden’s troubles is “also the story of a father’s love.”
Last week, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges stemming from his failure to pay in 2017 and 2018, and is expected to admit to illegally owning a gun he bought in 2018. It has been reported that Biden may face probation for the tax charges and, according to court documents, has “agreed to enter a Pretrial Diversion Agreement” for the felony gun charge.
When asked about the news later that day, President Biden told reporters: “I'm very proud of my son.” The reaction from a White House spokesperson was also succinct: “The President and the First Lady love their son and support him as he continues to rebuild his life. We will have no further comment.”
On Monday’s episode of The View, Navarro took a sympathetic approach, noting the relevancy of the death of President Biden’s other son, Beau, in 2015.
“Once you’ve lost a child, I think you are absolutely determined—it’s even more urgent, it’s an even bigger issue—that you will not lose another one,” she said.
“The Hunter Biden story, the scandal, the this, the that—it’s also the story of a father’s love, and Joe Biden has never and will never give up on his son Hunter, and will never treat him lesser than. And so he is a father first. Take it or leave it. That’s who he is, that is part of his heart.”
Navarro’s comments were then amplified by right-wing commentators like Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who, like others in MAGA world, complained that the investigation into Hunter Biden culminated in “a slap on the wrist.” After publications like The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit brought more attention to Navarro, with the latter accusing her of turning “a political scandal into a daytime soap opera,” she issued a rebuttal.
“Imagine calling yourself the ‘family values party’ & being outraged I’m talking about a father’s unconditional love for his child,” Navarro, a Republican, wrote in a tweet. “Imagine thinking a dad not giving up on his kid, is a bad thing.”
Navarro punctuated her message with a hashtag: “#sad.”