A study conducted for CNN revealed that a majority of Americans believe President Joe Biden, while he was serving as vice president under President Barack Obama, personally profited from his son Hunter’s business dealings with China and Ukraine.
Sixty-one percent believe President Biden had “some” involvement in Mr. Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China and Ukraine. Forty-two percent believe the involvement was illegal, 18 percent thought it was “unethical, but not illegal” while only one percent believed it was perfectly legitimate. Thirty-eight percent believe the then-vice president had no such involvement.
The 53-year-old Mr. Hunter Biden has been under investigation for a variety of matters, including his lobbying activities, possible money laundering, and failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes.
In 2013, Mr. Hunter Biden took a founding board seat at BHR Partners, a Chinese private equity firm a fortnight after his father’s official trip to China.
One year later, he joined the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company where he was paid $1.2 million per year—a move that stoked controversy given that his father oversaw U.S.–Ukraine relations under President Obama.
The opinions about the president’s involvement in his son’s business dealings are sharply divided across party lines, with 28 percent of Democrats suspecting involvement compared to 90 percent of Republicans.
A majority of the public (55 percent) believes President Biden has acted “inappropriately” regarding the investigation into Mr. Hunter Biden. Fifty-three percent believe President Joe Biden made money off his son’s lucrative overseas ventures, while 31 percent did not think so, and 16 percent were unsure.
The poll was conducted before special counsel David Weiss said in a Wednesday court filing that he is preparing to indict Mr. Hunter Biden for lying on a gun application form about his substance abuse.
Three-quarters (74 percent) of voters were of the opinion President Biden lacks “the stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president,” up from 51 percent in late 2019. One-third stated that they were proud to have him as their president, while two-thirds disagreed with that statement. Only 28 percent said he inspires confidence, with 72 percent disagreeing.
In response to an open-ended question about people’s biggest concern about President Biden as a candidate for re-election, virtually no one mentioned the situation regarding his son, with the biggest issue for half of the public (49 percent) being his age.
Seventy percent said they felt the country is doing “pretty/very badly” under his administration, including more than half of Democrats (51 percent), 91 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of independents, and 63 percent of moderates.
