CNN’s Brian Stelter Flip-Flops: Hunter Biden Scandal ‘Not Just A Right-Wing Media Story’

CNN’s Brian Stelter admitted during a recent interview the issues surrounding Hunter Biden are a real problem for President Joe Biden.

Stelter spoke to the former press secretary for first lady Jill Biden, Michael LaRosa, during Sunday’s edition of CNN‘s “Reliable Sources” questioning what might be ahead for the first family.

The CNN host addressed Hunter Biden being under federal investigation and said that the first son’s legal troubles were no longer just of concern to conservatives.

“What about his son?,” asked Stelter. “What about Hunter? Hunter under federal investigation, charges can be coming at any time, this is not just a right-wing media story. This is a real problem for the Bidens. Could he decide not to run for re-election given his son?” Stelter asked. 

LaRosa responded saying, “Look, they make decisions as a family and they will make that decision when it’s time.”

When asked if the Bidens had talked about a potential bid for a second term in the White House, LaRosa responded that “no” the Bidens had not discussed it.

“The president’s doing his job, he’s doing his work. He’s not focused on that,” LaRosa responded according to Fox News.

When asked if “the press is getting ahead of the family on that,” issue of a second term, the former first lady’s staffer replied in the affirmative.

“Way ahead, way ahead,” LaRosa responded, saying again that the press should focus on his “substantive wins” in the past week. 

Stelter previously held a substantially different opinion, calling the laptop a “classic example of the right-wing media machine” according to The New York Post.

Stelter called news surrounding the laptop a “manufactured scandal” in 2020 when details first came to light, and even two years after the authenticity of the laptop was verified, Stelter didn’t back down.

“I think there’s a tension between big American newsrooms that want to check something out themselves that don’t want to rely on other outlets, that don’t want to just repeat and regurgitate, but then there’s an audience expectation of being able to instantly cover every story and have every answer,” Stelter said in April according to Fox News.

The CNN host, speaking on a  panel discussion at the “Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy,” said “And so in September or October of 2020, when the New York Post has something other outlets can’t match it, there’s this pressure- ‘Why aren’t you confirming this? Why aren’t you focusing on this? Why aren’t you leading on this?’ Because we haven’t matched it, we haven’t confirmed it.”

Stelter defended CNN’s choice of coverage saying, “Now lately, the [New York] Times and the [Washington] Post have and that’s notable, and CNN had a story last week about the federal investigation into Hunter, but I think there’s this tension between fast and slow journalism, perhaps, between people who know how newsrooms work and the vast majority of those who don’t.”

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