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Hunter Biden warns Andrew Marr that Donald Trump is an 'existential threat' to the US, NATO, and the wider world.
Speaking on Tonight with Andrew Marr, Biden said he believed Trump represented the biggest global crisis since the Second World War, adding: "I believe that Donald Trump is an existential threat to not just our constitutional republic, but to all of NATO and for the entire globe."
Joe Biden's son said American politics had become a 'full-on 24/7 shouting match' and warned that the country's future 'does not look bright"' - unless 'we find our way back'.
Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp
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0:00
Hunter Biden, welcome to LBC. Can I start by asking about your own position? The Republicans in general and the Trump team in particular tried to make you the most hated man in America for a while
0:14
And I've been listening to you recently. You are kind of reaching out to people on the other side of the divide
0:19
to ex-MAGA people, to Republicans. Do you think there is the possibility of a gentler
0:25
and more civilized American politics to emerge after all the poison of the last few years
0:32
Well, I'm an eternal optimist, so I sure hope so, because unless we find our way back, the future does not look bright
0:42
We have devolved into a full-on 24-7 shouting match here in the United States
0:53
And I don't believe that that's where most Americans want us to be
0:59
So I certainly hope so. You have spoken very openly about your addiction
1:04
You've been clean of drugs and drink for more than seven years now
1:08
but you went through a really, really horrible period where your entire life was being upended in public
1:15
For people listening, what did you learn from that and what would your advice be to other people going through a hard time
1:22
Well, thank you for the question because the almost singular reason for me to be out
1:29
and speaking as much as I do is to be able to speak to the millions of people
1:34
not just the United States but everywhere, that are suffering from addiction
1:42
which is a pandemic in many ways. And for me, the experience that I had in addiction
1:55
was at a far end of the spectrum in terms of the severity of it
2:00
It was truly life-threatening at the end. and um and having to go through recovery in the public eye is is not easy but they gave me an
2:13
incredible gift though and one of the things that makes recovery so difficult for many people
2:19
is that they are kind of trapped in the shame of uh of what their addiction led them to
2:27
and it's very hard to get honest about it it's very hard to get honest with yourself it's very
2:33
hard to get honest with the people that you love and the, and, and your wider community of people
2:37
that you respect and want to respect you. And so in, uh, this public, um, shaming that, that has
2:47
went on for the past five, six years, what it did for me in many ways is, uh, it, it freed me from
2:55
all of that i had to um i had to embrace the reality of of uh of my addiction i had to get
3:03
honest with myself about it and uh and because there was nowhere to hide i uh had to get honest
3:09
with everyone around me and and i think in many ways it saved my life and so today i look at it
3:16
with gratitude i wouldn't recommend it on yeah that's for anybody that is a remarkable way of
3:22
looking at it, though. Let me stick with the concept of shame here, because the Biden family
3:28
had all, you know, the Biden crime family and all that thrown at them by Donald Trump, who we now see
3:33
enriching himself as American president in a way that is truly unprecedented in US history. And just
3:40
this week, we've had the revelation that one of the oligarchs closest to President Putin actually
3:46
bankrolled the wedding of Donald Trump Jr. Now, I know you and Donald Trump Jr
3:52
have had a few spats in the past, but how did you feel about that? Were you genuinely shocked
3:58
Well, I guess let's just talk about it like we would be if we were sitting
4:02
you know, across a table from dinner. What the hell did he need anyone
4:08
to pay for his wedding for? He has gotten, his firm has gotten
4:13
over $3.4 billion in Department of Defense contracts for his underlying investment companies in the past 600 days since his father was inaugurated with no defense experience by the way whatsoever And on top of that he got a million
4:32
loan guarantee from the Department of Defense, the largest loan guarantee ever given out to
4:39
any private company in the history of our country. And that's just scratching the surface
4:46
That doesn't include all of the other ventures that he's involved in and has profited from just since his father became president again this time
4:56
So my real question is, is what like how how much more do you need
5:01
Why would you possibly, even if it was perception, allow for an oligarch that is in, I don't know, 80 pictures with Vladimir Putin and clearly close to Putin, pay for large parts of your wedding
5:22
I don't, the audacity of it, it just is shocking to me. Shocking
5:27
Sticking with that word shame, do you think the American people have now lost any sense of surprise or horror about the self-enrichment of the Trump family
5:38
in many ways yes they have been um they have been so audacious and uh so in your face um
5:48
without shame or without any compunction of uh of uh of adhering to the the kind of just simple
5:57
standards that uh have been set regardless of whether um it's illegal or not it's um and in
6:04
many respects, I think it's part of their plan. And Steve Vanden talks about this all the time
6:13
is that you can truly overwhelm people with information where it becomes so ubiquitous
6:20
It becomes exhausting after a while. Exhausting. And this is a great example of that
6:27
Here we are today talking about Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding, and half the people go
6:34
like, what are you talking about? And the other half are, you know, up in arms about it. But
6:38
meanwhile, I just read a report about how the European Union has offered to grant Canada a
6:48
kind of like a junior partnership. And the price of diesel gasoline has gone up to $8.40 in places
6:59
because we're in a war that nobody wanted. And so as they do these just outrageous things
7:07
that don't necessarily impact the American people in their pocketbook or in their lives
7:12
they do things that impact us in their lives. And I've said this before, Andrew, is one thing
7:19
and I know I'm talking too much, I'm sorry. But I think that there's not a world
7:24
in which a democracy that has the history of ours, a constitutional republic
7:34
then the people will allow for both total corruption and total incompetence
7:39
And that is what we're getting from this administration. So, Hunter, how does America come back from this
7:45
Does there need to be a reckoning? Yes, absolutely, 100% needs to be a reckoning
7:52
There needs to be... I know people, I believe one of the mistakes of the first Trump administration was that we could just somehow get over it
8:05
And everybody would kind of come back together and there would be a return to normal
8:12
Yeah. But that is not happening. The horse is out of the barn, as they say here
8:21
And I think that Donald Trump, while I believe that he is not just a symptom of a disease, I believe that he is the patient zero
8:34
And if he is no longer in power, I think that there is a real possibility
8:40
But I truly worry about this, Andrew. That I know it sounds hyperbolic maybe I don think that he has any plans of going anywhere I don know how he going to do it
8:53
but I don't think that he has any plans of leaving the White House in 2020
8:57
You think he'll try and stay there? He'll squat in the White House, whatever happens. And I just think about it
9:03
What is his alternative? Because the alternative is an enormous amount of accountability
9:08
Yeah. We're heading towards the midterms pretty fast at the moment. if the Democrats take both houses
9:15
do you think there have to be impeachment proceedings quite quickly? I do
9:20
Because, I mean, we could sit here and I guarantee you you and I could come up with a list of at least five, six, seven actions
9:31
that Donald Trump has taken from going to war with Iran without congressional approval
9:37
I mean, we can go down the list that I believe constitute
9:41
what in the United States the Constitution requires, which is a high crime or misdemeanor
9:46
And I know that the problem here, however, is this, is that if the Democrats control the House of Representatives
9:54
he will be technically impeached. Whether he is convicted in the Senate is a real uphill battle
10:03
And the reason is that the Republican Party, whether it's in the minority or the majority in both houses
10:10
has literally not done a single thing to slow the corruption and the mayhem that Donald Trump has done
10:19
They've signed on to all of it, and I don't see them backing off
10:23
Many people would say the Democrats haven't been hugely active either. I'd like to ask about your own future
10:29
Governor Newsom has said that if Kamala Harris stands for the presidency
10:34
on the Democratic ticket, he won't try and compete with her. I know that your stepmother, Jill Biden, has given you her blessing. Might you stand yourself
10:43
I'm honored that you would ask me. I feel like I have a real opportunity in my life right now to be able to speak to people
10:56
and an audience that I not only think truly is in need, but also that hears me just by
11:07
virtue of my own experience, which is the community, the recovery community
11:11
and infecting that with elected politics. I'm more than willing to talk about politics all day long
11:18
but infecting that in terms of standing for election, I think, makes it very difficult for me to do
11:25
what I'm most intent on doing. So you've got something more important
11:29
than the American presidency. I don't mean that sarcastically. That's a very interesting thought
11:33
because there are things that matter more in life. Can I ask you about two policy areas, however, as well
11:39
We've had a lot of conversation here in the UK about the coming wave of AI destroying aspects of our civilization
11:47
Donald Trump is determined not for that to be regulated. Do you understand why he's against regulation
11:55
Yes, I believe that he's against regulation because, number one, I don't think that he understands the issue
12:00
the fundamentals of the issue at all. Senator Welch yesterday, I believe in a hearing
12:06
said, and it's a funny line, but I don't think it's far from the truth
12:10
that Donald Trump couldn't spell AI if he gave him the first letter
12:15
And I really believe that, is that he doesn't look at anything beyond the very, very, very surface level
12:26
And the surface level of AI to him is all about money, is all about a way in which the United States can use its technological prowess
12:38
and the advances that we should all be proud of, but how does it, number one, first enrich him and then enrich his friends
12:49
And so that's why he doesn't want to slow down. And by the way, I would always say this about AI
12:55
We're at this point in human history where we potentially, if many people that I respect are correct
13:02
are going to make an evolutionary advance in humankind, the greatest step ever if AGI then leads to super intelligence And we literally have the worst leadership at the worst time Exactly That is certainly the problem The other issue I wanted to ask about is Israel and whether you stand with your father attitudes to Israel given what happened in Gaza
13:27
I know you've been very involved in humanitarian causes on the ground. We've had a great debate in the UK about the settler territories in the West Bank
13:36
Where are you now? Oh, I am about, I'm as opposed as anyone could possibly be to Bibi Netanyahu and the Likud government
13:49
and what they've done in both Gaza and the West, and what they continue to do in the West Bank
13:54
and what they're doing in Lebanon right now also. I believe that what went on and what continues to go on in Gaza in particular is akin to genocide
14:10
I think that's a very loaded word, but I think it's an appropriate word for the intent of Benjamin Netanyahu
14:17
Netanyahu. I think that he has singularly made Jewish people around the world more unsafe than
14:23
they've ever been since World War II, since the Holocaust. And I truly, truly believe that
14:29
And my evidence of that is not just some kind of a subjective, you know, anger towards the
14:36
Likud government or Bibi Netanyahu. It's the reports that have come out. And if you, the
14:43
the bombshell, the quote-unquote bombshell report that came out a few days ago, that Bibi Netanyahu
14:49
was fully aware that there was a attack being planned for October 7th and did absolutely nothing
14:55
about it. Everyone that has looked at this over the course of since October 7th event, which was
15:01
horrific, horrific, and Hamas is horrific, has looked at it, and they've said this, is that
15:10
they knew. They knew what was coming. And they allowed it to happen for the purposes of being
15:16
able to execute on a plan that no one would have ever, ever given them the green light to do without
15:22
it. That is certainly a horrific thought. Let me ask you a final question, Hunter Biden. Our new
15:29
Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, is meeting Donald Trump for the first time in a few days. If he was
15:35
sitting with you in your room with all the books and the art and the mementos there
15:39
And he said to you, give me one piece of advice for that meeting. What would it be
15:45
Do not let him bully you. Stand up. Americans will applaud you for it
15:50
And so will, I believe, the people in the UK. I cannot possibly speak for you
15:56
Do not let him bully you. Stand up for the principles that his government and his country believes in
16:04
and do not let him bully you. I said that was the last question
16:08
but bubbling away inside my head has been something you said earlier on
16:12
about Donald Trump simply not moving from the White House. Does that mean you think he might have to be removed by force
16:19
And what would that look like? Well, I don't know, and I really don't know
16:23
I think that we would get into completely uncharted territory. But I think that we should plan for the worst
16:32
and hope for the best, but we should definitely plan for the worst and understand that when he says these things and people laugh and think that it's just a like an audacious comment
16:43
It's like Donald Trump goes around and tells everybody he's six foot three and weighs 220
16:48
And we know that he's barely six foot and he weighs, you know, 280
16:53
It's just these things become a reality and we need to plan for it
16:57
You're talking about a kind of Trump dictatorship and possibly the biggest crisis for the republic since the Civil War
17:04
I think it's the biggest crisis for the globe since World War II
17:10
And maybe everybody's going to jump on me for that one. But I really believe it
17:16
I believe that Donald Trump is an existential threat to not just our constitutional republic, but to all of NATO and for the entire globe
17:25
I always like to end these interviews on a cheerful note. Perhaps I haven't achieved it this time, but Hunter Biden, thank you very much indeed for talking to LBC
17:33
I love your show, so thank you for having me on. Thank you
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