Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) has a new conspiracy theory about Hunter Biden, but he couldn’t get CNN’s Jake Tapper to take it seriously during an interview Friday.
In fact, Tapper mocked the Kentucky congressman to his face.
The president’s son was indicted Thursday on nine tax charges in California, and Comer, the House Oversight Committee chair, appeared on CNN the next day to discuss the matter.
Although Biden could face serious time behind bars if convicted, Comer dubiously claimed the criminal charges were actually part of a cover-up designed to throw off his investigation into unproven allegations around the Biden family’s supposedly shady financial dealings.
Comer said none of the crimes that Hunter Biden was accused of dealt with things his committee is investigating, and then suggested that special counsel David Weiss indicted the president’s son “to protect him from having to be deposed in the House Oversight Committee [next week].”
Tapper’s eyebrows raised over that theory, and he couldn’t help but mock it to Comer directly.
“He indicted him to protect him?” Tapper asked, before sarcastically adding, “The classic rubric, I got it.”
Comer said the whole Biden story has been about a cover-up, but Tapper went back to Comer’s previous, somewhat contradictory statement.
“That’s why [Weiss] indicted him, to protect him? To cover it up?” Tapper asked incredulously.
Comer responded, “Look, you indict him on the least little thing, the gun charge and not paying taxes,” before Tapper pointed out why the theory sounded ridiculous.
″[Biden’s] facing like 17 additional years in prison! These are felonies!” Tapper said.
“Yeah, but look at what he’s done! Anybody else in America would already be in prison,” Comer said.
You can see their exchange — and Tapper’s reaction — in the video below.
Tapper’s snark continued when he grilled Comer on why he won’t let Biden testify before his committee in public, an offer he made previously.
“Why not just jump at the opportunity to grill Hunter Biden on national television?” Tapper asked. “Here’s your chance, you know? You’re the dog that caught the bus. Here it is!”
Comer claimed his investigation wasn’t about politics or theater, to which Tapper chuckled.
The CNN anchor’s reaction to Comer’s very dubious theory didn’t go unnoticed on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Some commented that Comer probably wasn’t used to being fact-checked, since he tends to only do interviews with conservative media.
One woman couldn’t help but take Comer’s theory that the indictment was good for Biden and apply it to former President Donald Trump.