Hunter Biden, former President Joe Bidenâs son, suggested in an interview earlier this month that Democrats should âturn the temperature upâ when asked about extremism on the fringes, although he cautioned he wasnât supporting political violence.
âWide Awake Podcastâ host Joshua Rubin asked Biden whether both sides needed to turn the temperature down with regard to extremism, and said it was only âescalating.â Biden said that it wasnât going to happen
âIâm going to get myself in trouble for saying this. No, we need to turn the temperature up. We need to turn the temperature up, and we need people to see it for what it is. And what I mean by that is this: I do not believe that we are going to get to the bottom until we get to the bottom. And I want to get to the bottom faster rather than through this slow kind of process of just being picked apart â a death by a thousand cuts here,â Biden said.
He said that he â100%â did not mean violence, and added, âwhat I mean by turning the temperature up is we need to speak truth to power.â

âWe need more people in my party, in the Democratic Party, more people in elected positions or in positions of power, or the talking heads that get paid to go on MSNBC [now MS NOW], they need to start talking about this as it is, not as a conjecture about whether or not the Supreme Court [sic] and this debate,â Biden added.
He also named CNN host Jake Tapper and called him out for a recent conversation he had with President Donald Trump over text.

âYou have people like Jake Tapper who are having hardball discussions with Donald Trump over text. Like, what the fâ are you talking about, man? Thatâs not journalism. Thatâs a complete and utter abdication of responsibility as a journalist,â Biden alleged.
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Tapper was also called out by MS NOW host Lawrence OâDonnell at the time over the text interview.
âCNN presented a so-called interview⊠that they canât even prove was Donald Trump. They called it âbreaking news,â they called it âan exclusive, new interview with President Trump.â Thatâs what they called it, before the interviewer said this,â OâDonnell said before playing video of Tapper saying Trump answered his questions via âtext.â

A CNN spokesperson defended Tapper at the time, telling Fox News Digital, âJake Tapper is a journalist â CNN journalists will always take any opportunity to ask questions of those in power and share what we learn with our audience.â
Biden also called out CNN host Abby Phillip and CNN political commentator Scott Jennings, who frequently appears on Phillipâs show.

âHe goes out there, and he says, just parrots the talking points of the administration. And everybody does that, has done that in the past, but not when theyâre parroting what are verifiable lies. And then Abby Phillips, âWell, thatâs just not true, Scott,’â Biden continued.
CNN did not immediately return a request for comment.
The former presidentâs son argued that the media ecosphere was being âgobbled up by oligarchs.â
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