1/ So. The Hunter Biden story: absent from the hompages of WSJ, NYT, WaPo, USA Today, or any of the major local PA/Wisconsin papers that I just perused. This story is existing almost entirely on NY Post & Fox News. This is really, really important in terms of the election.
2/ Anyone regularly reading Fox News or NY Post is voting for Trump already. He does not need this story to penetrate there. He needs what happened w/ Hillary... he needs it to get major coverage across the paper remaining indies and persuadable voters may read or view as legit.
3/ Right now, only sign of it in those other papers is reporting that has raised deep, serious questions about the seriousness of how NY Post vetted the story. Including this one from NYT: nytimes.com/2020/10/18/bus…
4/ But none of these places have made the story that visible, at least as it relates to "corruption" etc. What has broken through a *little bit* in the op-ed sections is... criticism of Trump/NY Post for sensationalizing Hunter's struggles with addiction.
5/ This, too, is important. The perception of Joe Biden among most voters outside Trump's base may be that he's old or senile or the establishment, but also that he's decent and normal and cares about his kids. These stories reinforce that perception.
6/ Outside of the merits of the story -- which to me looks very, VERY sketchy -- I think it is important to talk about how this may change the contours of the election. This is clearly Trump's attempt at an "October surprise." I really don't see it moving the needle much.
END/ What's getting through to voters outside this website is: Hunter Biden does drugs, had some complicated business dealings, Joe Biden tried to help him, there are lots of questions about whether the story is legit. That's not an "October surprise" that moves this election.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
