Joe Biden sits down for an interview with The Weather Channel on Tuesday — sending critics into a frenzy with jokes about Democrats’ claims that the president only discussed the “weather” on calls with his son’s business associates.
Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer told Congress during a closed-door testimony earlier this month that the elder Biden, 80, often participates in business meetings with his son. However, he insisted they were mostly casual chats about things like the weather.
Now President Biden has approved the rare sit-down interview being conducted in Arizona to discuss extreme weather events across the country and how to deal with climate change. The interview will be broadcast in full on Wednesday.
Face-to-face with a reporter for the first time since mid-July, White House communications director Ben LaBolt tweeted that Biden is “just picking up viewers where they are” because some voters don’t hear political news.
President Joe Biden meets with The Weather Channel Tuesday while visiting the Grand Canyon to discuss climate change and extreme weather events. The rare sit-down interview with Air on Wednesday
Republicans seized on the choice to leave by citing Democrat claims that President Joe Biden only discussed the “weather” when he was on speakerphone calls with his son Hunter Biden and his associates
Democrats hoped Archer’s testimony would provide a reasonable explanation for why Biden was calling his son’s foreign business associates.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told MSNBC that it’s not a crime to “exchange pleasantries.”
“Are there any problematic issues about Hunter Biden?” And I said something that shouldn’t be controversial, which is that if you commit a crime, you should be held accountable,” Himes told MSNBC after Archer testified. “But have they hinted at anything to suggest that Joe Biden engaged in corrupt behavior? NO.’
He added: “And on the contrary, Hunter Biden’s business partner said, ‘Yes, he did have a few phone calls. He spoke about the weather. pleasantries exchanged.”
Additionally, Rep. Daniel Goldman (DN.Y.) had the same odd “weather” response when asked by reporters in the Capitol why he wasn’t paying attention to the conversations Joe Biden was having with Hunter while he was with foreign business partners using the hands-free system.
“It was clear that it was part of the daily conversations Hunter had with his father,” Himes said of the calls. “And it was — sounded like it — most of the time, President Biden didn’t even know who the people were that he was at dinner.”
“He was only asked to say hello. “He, you know, talked about it — he described it several times, they asked over and over,” he added. “He described the weather: ‘What’s going on with you?’ The witness was perfectly aware that none of these conversations was ever about business or transactions.
“It was just what he called casual talk.”
Commenting on the forthcoming interview on The Weather Channel, Chad Gilmartin, a spokesman for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tweeted, “Well that makes sense since Joe Biden has called Hunter’s business partner over 20 times to discuss the weather…”
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes (left) and Daniel Goldman (right) both told the press that Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Devon Archer, said President Joe Biden only discussed the weather on hands-free calls with foreign businessmen
Devon Archer appeared in camera for testimony before the House Oversight Committee last month, telling the panel that there had been at least 20 instances of Hunter using the speakerphone to speak to his father during meetings with foreign colleagues
Biden’s White House claims he was not involved in his son’s shady foreign dealings
“Will he also put Hunter Biden and his entire board of associates on the speakerphone to ‘talk about the weather’? “Seems fitting,” conservative internet personality Danny De Urbina tweeted.
The interview will be conducted by Stephanie Abrams and will air beginning Wednesday morning.
“Today at the Grand Canyon, the President will record an interview about his plan to address climate change, address the threat of extreme weather, and promote resilience,” communications director LaBolt wrote.
“We meet the viewers where they are – even those who do not regularly watch political news.”