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During an interview on Glenn Beck’s radio show, Donald Trump Jr. referred to Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, as a “crackhead.” The comments came a day after the first presidential debate, during which the president falsely accused Hunter Biden of being dishonorably discharged from the military over his drug addiction. The accusation was false; although Hunter Biden did test positive for cocaine use during his time in the military, he was not discharged dishonorably. You can read more about that here.
While in conversation with Beck on Wednesday, Trump Jr. went after Hunter’s history of drug addiction, and also cited unsubstantiated claims about Hunter’s alleged connections in Russia. He said, “I mean, Hunter Biden, has now a tie, a direct tie to Vladimir Putin…and you don’t think they would use that over crackhead Hunter?”
The Biden campaign has not responded to this insult. However, during the presidential debate, Biden did defend his son’s record, reminding the president that his son was not dishonorably discharged from the military, and clarifying that he was proud of his son for battling addiction issues.
Biden said, “My son, like a lot of people, like a lot of people you know at home, had a drug problem. He’s overtaken it. He’s fixed it. He’s worked on it, and I’m proud of him.”
Here’s what you need to know:
WATCH: Donald Trump Jr. Calls Hunter Biden a ‘Crackhead’ on the Radio
In the clip above, you can hear Donald Trump Jr. call Hunter Biden a “crackhead.” Specifically, he references him as “crackhead Hunter,” and then goes on to challenge what he’s done with his life.
Trump Jr. said,
“…I mean Hunter Biden has now a tie, a direct tie to Vladimir Putin, and Russia, and you don’t think they would use that over crackhead Hunter? Like, you don’t think…leverage over Joe Biden, later on in life? Same with China… no one’s ever heard of Hunter Biden, he’s never been an investor, he’s never done any of those things, the Chinese government just gave him a billion dollars cause they thought he was going to be really good…come on, man, that’s insane.”
Olivia Nuzzi, a Washington news correspondent, tweeted in response to this video clip that she may have heard Trump Jr. make this comment about Hunter Biden before. She tweeted, “Last week in New Hampshire, I thought I heard Donald Trump Jr. refer to Hunter Biden as ‘Crackhead Hunter.’ But I wasn’t sure, and my recording of his remarks was not clear enough for me to confirm that he’d really said it. Today, he said it again, clearly…”
POTUS Attacked Hunter Biden’s Character During the Presidential Debate
POTUS’ attack on Hunter Biden began during the presidential debate on Tuesday night, when he brought up a controversial claim that Hunter received millions of dollars from the wife of the mayor of Moscow. Trump said, “Hunter Biden got three and a half million dollars from the wife of the mayor of Moscow… Why did he get three and a half million dollars?”
This claim has been proven to be unsubstantiated, per a report from PolitiFact. That report shows that this $3.5 million claim originally came from a report issued from the Republican majority on the Senate Finance and Homeland Security Committees. The report alleged that Hunter had a financial relationship with Elena Baturina, the widow of the former mayor of Moscow, who served as mayor until 2010. Via PolitiFact, the report said in part, “Feb. 14, 2014, Baturina wired $3.5 million to a Rosemont Seneca Thornton bank account for a ‘Consultancy Agreement.’ Rosemont Seneca Thornton is an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden.”
PolitiFact reached out to the Trump campaign for more information on where this $3.5 million claim came from. The campaign simply said it came from the report. There’s no further proof about this alleged transfer of money, and the Republicans involved in that original report have declined to comment further.
During the debate, after he pushed the unsubstantiated $3.5 million claim, Trump went on to attack Hunter’s character, claiming that he was “thrown out of the military” and “dishonorably discharged for cocaine use.”
This is not true. As Emily Bicks reports for Heavy, “A failed drug test does not call for a dishonorable discharge for Navy personnel. Instead, they leave their service with a ‘general’ discharge or an ‘other than honorable’ discharge, according to GI Rights Hotline.”
Commander Ryan Perry, a Navy spokesman, said of Hunter’s discharge, “Like other junior officers, the details of Ensign Biden’s discharge are not releasable under the Privacy Act,” according to a 2014 story from USA Today.