The Trump campaign is trying to use the same playbook. This time it’s a laptop allegedly belonging to Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. The campaign is threatening to use the same drip, drip of e-mails they foisted upon the public in 2016 via Wikileaks that torpedoed Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Who’s behind this “bombshell”? Why, none other than Trump toady Rudy Giuliani, of course! Now we know exactly what he was doing when he traveled to the Ukraine back in December of last year, following the sham impeachment trial.
Unlike the Podesta e-mails, this time social media isn’t having it. Instead, Twitter has suspended the Twitter accounts of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and the Trump campaign for spreading disinformation. This has elicited the predictable cries of censorship from Trump’s Republican allies. They are demanding Congressional hearings into the issue.
It seems Republicans are okay with lying so long as it suits their needs. A prime example is the current hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) swore they would not hold hearings on a Supreme Court nominee during an election. Moscow Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to allow President Obama’s nominee to have a hearing, citing his belief “the voters should decide”.
Now, these same Republicans are crying foul because they aren’t being permitted to use the same dirty tactics they used in 2016. Their reactions are not surprising when you see the latest poll numbers, which see Republicans losing not just the White House, but the Senate too.
Republicans are in panic mode!
The alleged Hunter Biden e-mails are the latest in a series of failed “October Surprises”. First, there was the “bombshell” investigation of the investigators who began the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Called “Obamagate”, Trump weaponized the Justice Department and Attorney General Bill Barr to attack his political rivals. The case was closed with not so much as a report being issued.
Trump’s disastrous coronavirus response, and his waffling on a new stimulus package has further doomed the campaign. It even has some questioning if he even had the virus or if he was using his “miraculous recovery” to dupe the voters once again? Still, Trump is telling his base the coronavirus will go away, even as the number of cases approaches 8 million in America.
Back on the campaign trail, Trump is desperate for a win. He undoubtedly had the alleged damning Hunter Biden e-mails, which have not been verified, and was holding on to them to create the same confusion the Podesta e-mails caused.
The fact is that there isn’t yet a connection to Hunter Biden and the laptop that is the source. Instead, a man identifying himself as Hunter Biden dropped off three laptops for repair at a Delaware computer store. These mysteriously found their way to the New York Post, which published an e-mail without verifying their authenticity. Of course, the Trump campaign called this the “smoking gun” that tied Joe Biden to Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that employed Hunter Biden.
Given their past actions, there is speculation that the laptop is nothing more than a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at damaging Joe Biden’s presidential bid, the same way it sabotaged Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The major difference is, this time, instead of pouncing on the story in hopes of getting a scoop, news outlets are questioning the accuracy of the information.
Had they done this four years ago, we wouldn’t be in our current dilemma. Like the old saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”. In the words of a song by the sixties British rock group, The Who, we “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.
November 3rd.