Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, on Wednesday offered his take on Tuesday’s New York primary election results, stunning many with his observations about Democratic politics.
Primarily, Biden was speaking about the election victories of three Democratic socialist candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Brad Lander (D-N.Y.), Claire Valdez (D-N.Y.), and Darializa Avila Chevalier (D-N.Y.) all won their primary elections on Tuesday, with Chevalier and Lander defeating Democratic incumbents.
Many pundits saw Tuesday’s results as a partial rejection of the Democratic establishment, as the three candidates on the losing end of the aforementioned elections were largely endorsed by party mainstays, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Hunter Biden’s Lessons for Democrats
Biden implored the Democratic Party to learn some lessons from this outcome, while saying, “the country is tired of being managed. People want to be led.”
“I’m not running for office. But if I were, these are some of the lessons I’d take away from what happened in NY yesterday,” Biden wrote before presenting his list. The list included points such as: “Authenticity is measurable. Voters can smell a focus group from a mile away,” and “Endorsements from the current Democratic leadership now read like…”
While many on social media praised Biden’s insight on the matter, others also accused him of using artificial intelligence to write the list. HuffPost reached out to Biden for comment on those accusations but has not heard back.
Reactions and Wider Implications
Many commenters expressed amazement that Biden was able to deliver this analysis, with journalist Mehdi Hasan even suggesting the Democrats may have run “the wrong Biden in 2024.” Others noted the contrast between Hunter Biden’s past struggles and his current political acumen.
“How is it that the dude who once used crack 'every 20 minutes or so' understands modern politics better than nearly every mainstream Democratic Party analyst?” wrote one user.
Activist David Hogg added, “I'd also add the canvass launches and rallies of Zohran and his slate are some of the most genuinely hopeful and fun political events I have ever seen. People clearly believe in who they are asking others to vote for and have a blast doing it. People are exhausted of the politics…”
State Representative Ruwa Romman echoed Biden’s points, saying, “All of this and in particular: 3. Conviction beats caution. The candidates who said hard things about rent, about who pays for what, about Gaza, they won. The triangulators lost. 4. Cost of living is everything. Everything else is wallpaper.”
The Jacobin magazine highlighted Biden’s comment: “Cost of living is everything. Everything else is wallpaper.”
Some observers, like Eric Blanc, joked that “By 2028, Hunter Biden will be a member of DSA's International Committee.” Shadi Hamid noted, “Hunter Biden is exactly right here. It's not rocket science. People want leaders who actually believe in something. This is why Gaza is important — it's a proxy for conviction and principle in a party that has lacked both.”
