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Is Donald Trump<\/strong> rooting for Hunter Biden<\/strong> to be acquitted on charges of illegal gun possession, even after years of ranting that the \u201cBiden crime family\u201d belongs in jail? It would make a certain twisted sense: \u201cSee, the fix was in all along!\u201d the former president could claim if Hunter is exonerated. \u201cJust like my trial was rigged! Joe Biden<\/strong> has corrupted the judicial system!\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe the MAGA base would buy it. The facts, of course, make the argument ludicrous. There\u2019s no evidence whatsoever that the president attempted to influence the Manhattan district attorney\u2019s prosecution of Trump. Quite the opposite: Joe Biden\u2019s Department of Justice declined to pursue charges related to the Stormy Daniels<\/strong> hush money allegations, while it has indicted New Jersey Democratic senator Robert Menendez<\/strong> (on bribery charges and other accusations) and Texas Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar<\/strong> (on charges of bribery, money laundering, and acting as a foreign agent), and just finished presenting its case against Biden\u2019s younger son in a Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom. \u201cThe Merrick Garland<\/strong> Justice Department isn\u2019t going after our enemies,\u201d a top Democratic strategist says. \u201cThey go after the people who they think have broken the law.\u201d<\/p>\n Some prominent Democrats, including Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin,<\/strong> have been pointing out the hypocrisy<\/a> of Republicans decrying the Trump prosecution as partisan while Hunter Biden stands trial. You will not, however, hear that point being made by the Biden campaign itself. The quickest way to shorten a conversation with someone in Bidenworld has always been to bring up Hunter\u2019s troubles. He remains a sensitive subject, for both political and personal reasons. When I asked Ted Kaufman,<\/strong> Joe Biden\u2019s longtime friend and his successor as a Delaware senator, about the complicated line between presidenting and parenting, the answer was quick and curt. \u201cI\u2019m not going to get into that,\u201d Kauffman said. \u201cLet me make something clear: He has demonstrated time and time and time again how much he cares for Hunter. He\u2019s one of the most incredible fathers.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe Biden\u2019s decency and empathy should indeed help his cause, particularly in contrast to Trump\u2019s lack of both qualities. Yet voters, understandably, care most about what the White House can do for them. That\u2019s why the economy, immigration, abortion, and democracy so often rank among the top priorities in the presidential campaign. So Biden\u2019s team would be fine with Trump\u2019s campaign burning up more time and energy on issues that motivate only MAGA. \u201cHow many people do you think are going to the ballot box and voting based on Hunter? Like, zero-point-zero,\u201d a Biden insider says. \u201cVoters vote on what\u2019s better for them and their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n In the weeks since Trump\u2019s conviction on 34 counts, another theory has been bandied about inside Bidenworld: In a race that will likely be decided by a sliver of votes in a handful of swing states, the more Trump and allies like Steve Bannon<\/strong> and Megyn Kelly<\/strong> fulminate about retribution<\/a>\u2014or about using the federal government to go after not just the Bidens but perhaps Hillary Clinton<\/strong> and Barack Obama<\/strong>\u2014the more the American judicial system itself could become a contributing, indirect issue for voters who say they are still on the fence.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s authoritarian rants, inflamed by his anger over his Manhattan conviction, can help the Biden campaign amplify two of its existing, important themes: that the Republican candidate cares only about himself, and that his reelection would return chaos to the most powerful office in government. The key in successfully selling that message, however, will be connecting Trump\u2019s norm-destroying rage to his ability to damage everyday American life, in areas from reducing job growth and access to affordable health care to worsening climate change and the tax gap between the rich and everyone else. \u201cYes, I want Democrats to be talking about Trump\u2019s conviction,\u201d says Jim Messina,<\/strong> who managed Obama\u2019s successful 2012 reelection run and is an outside adviser to Biden\u2019s 2024 reelection bid. \u201cI also think you can walk and chew gum at the same time. We\u2019re still losing the economic argument. Hillary\u2019s great failing in 2016 was not that she didn\u2019t make Trump\u2019s behavior clear\u2014it was not making people understand why it hurts them economically. And we\u2019ve just got to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n What a jury decides about Hunter Biden is unlikely to factor into that campaign equation. But Trump\u2019s threat to aggressively weaponize the judicial system just might.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n