Debate: Do Trump’s children get a pass compared to Hunter Biden?

[0:00] Why is it appropriate that the president's son, [0:03] a company that is backed by the president's son, [0:06] should get a government contract, period? [0:07] The Trump family has made $1.4 billion. [0:13] $1.4 billion since he was president. [0:16] What did they make when he wasn't president? [0:17] A lot less. [0:17] It was a lot less. [0:19] The best argument was always this idea that, [0:22] oh, the Trumps actually have businesses, right? [0:25] And Hunter Biden was just selling his personality and his influence. [0:28] They didn't have a crypto business. [0:31] They didn't have a drone business. [0:33] They didn't have a robotics business. [0:37] Tonight, a lucrative Pentagon deal for a company backed by Donald Trump's son. [0:41] Critics are calling it corruption and profiting off the presidency. [0:45] Eric Trump did a victory lap this morning on Fox News [0:48] after securing that $24 million defense contract from his father's administration. [0:53] And for Fox News host Maria de Bartiromo, that was cause for celebration. [0:58] Joining us now is Foundation Future Industries founder and CEO, [1:03] Sankat Patak, and the company's chief strategy advisor, Eric Trump, President Trump's son. [1:10] Congratulations to you both. [1:11] Thank you so much for being here. [1:15] Now, you'll recall Bartiromo was among those accusing the Biden family of enriching themselves [1:20] from their proximity to the White House. [1:25] Hunter Biden was selling influence and selling visits to his father, selling this okay on deals. [1:33] Hunter Biden and his associates courted business in countries that correlated directly [1:38] with Joe Biden's work as vice president. [1:41] These people didn't come to Hunter Biden because he understood world politics or that he was [1:45] experienced in it or that he understood Chinese businesses. [1:48] They wanted him for the access his last name gave them. [1:52] Hunter Biden used his father's position and name to enrich himself and his family. [1:58] A few months after Hunter Biden joined that corrupt company's board, [2:03] the Obama-Biden State Department began doing business with them. [2:08] The president's participation in enriching his family is, in a word, abuse of the highest order. [2:16] So let's say all of that is true. [2:18] Is it okay for the Trump sons to get on the boards of all these companies, a robotics company, a drone company, [2:27] for the express purpose of those companies getting contracts with his father's administration? [2:32] Yeah, well, there's a lot of robotics companies, right? [2:34] And given the president's relationship to a key investor in Phantom, the one that Eric Trump is involved in, [2:40] I think they should have made a case to the public, why did this company win the Pentagon contract? [2:45] Why did they get the bid? What made them the most compelling candidate for the job above all other companies? [2:52] You know, that being said, I think the Hunter Biden comparison is interesting. [2:55] And obviously, that was a case of clear conflict of interest and outright influence peddling, a massive scandal, right? [3:02] The difference, though, is that, you know, accepting secret payments from a foreign oligarch is not national defense procurement, [3:10] which is what this company is doing with Eric Trump. [3:12] Well, you're mixing apples and oranges. [3:14] We don't know how much Eric Trump is being paid to have a nominal title on this board, this company. [3:22] So the secret payments that would be analogous would be what Eric Trump is being paid. [3:27] We do know, however, that they are getting a government contract because of that relationship. [3:31] And it's so out in the open. [3:33] No, we don't. We don't know that. [3:34] No, no, you're insinuating that. [3:36] He went on television this morning to brag about how once he has become a part of this company, they have now gotten a federal government contract. [3:47] Joe, you're not stupid. [3:48] I watched the segment. [3:49] And people are not dumb. [3:50] You're saying the company got the contract totally because. [3:51] You're trying to say that there's no relationship between Eric Trump being a part of this company and them getting a government contract. [3:57] You made an allegation and now you're insinuating something that you have no proof for. [4:00] You have no proof for it. [4:02] This was a $24 million, which is a drop in the bucket of Pentagon spending. [4:05] Hold on, Joe. [4:06] It's for a company to test a product to be able to potentially future supply American and Ukrainian troops. [4:12] Even if there was no proof that there was a clear role that Eric Trump played, why is it appropriate that the president's son, a company that is backed by the president's son, should get a government contract, period? [4:26] Period. [4:27] That's something that you guys thought was corruption when you accused Hunter Biden. [4:30] When you hide it and you have 10% for the big guy. [4:33] You have to hide it. [4:34] You have to hide it in order for it to be bad. [4:37] So he went on, the president's son went on Maria Vardaroa today. [4:40] One of the biggest myths ever, by the way. [4:41] Hold on. [4:42] That was when he wasn't even vice president anymore. [4:44] That was in the email. [4:45] He wasn't even vice president anymore. [4:47] And the guy's been totally discredited. [4:49] And there's zero evidence that Joe Biden never made a penny. [4:52] So if we're going to actually go down this road, it's really a bad comparison to the Trump thing. [4:56] Eric Trump went on a show this morning on cable news and touted a press conference on a company. [5:02] Hold on. [5:03] A company that he is an investor on that's doing something with the Pentagon. [5:06] If Hunter Biden was so clean, why didn't he ever go on a Maria Vardaroa show and talk about [5:12] the great work he was doing for Barack? [5:13] I also think it matters what the companies are doing. [5:16] I think it kind of matters what the companies are doing. [5:19] Burisma versus Hunter Biden having a deal with a Chinese firm that's connected to the Chinese Communist Party. [5:26] The best argument was always this idea that, oh, the Trumps actually have businesses, right? [5:32] And Hunter Biden was just selling his personality and his influence. [5:36] They didn't have a crypto business. [5:38] No. [5:39] They didn't have a drone business. [5:41] You know, they didn't have a robotics business. [5:43] But this is their third defense industry business. [5:44] Have they done deals with the Chinese Communist Party? [5:49] Once Trump became president. [5:51] That's exactly right. [5:52] What deal did Joe Biden do? [5:53] Hunter Biden did a deal with a Chinese firm connected to the Chinese Communist Party. [5:57] Meanwhile, this technology from Eric Trump's firm that he's connected to is making robots [6:02] for the battlefield that are supposed to make us competitive in China. [6:05] has made $1.4 billion. [6:08] $1.4 billion since he was president. [6:12] What did they make when he wasn't president? [6:12] A lot less. [6:13] A lot less. [6:14] His net worth has gone up by three or four times. [6:17] While the American people are suffering. [6:20] Just to give you an example, I mean, the Trump family, they've gone heavy into crypto, [6:26] which, by the way, the president has a huge role in influencing. [6:29] And he's changed his policy on crypto as a result of this. [6:31] Yes, he's changed his policy on crypto. [6:32] That's the biggest point. [6:33] The sale of World Liberty Financial crypto tokens have netted them $550 million over the [6:39] last year. [6:41] The stake in World Liberty Financial to a foreign investment firm is $200 million. [6:49] There's tons of money being thrown around here. [6:52] Okay. [6:52] Hunter Biden's paintings, which apparently were such a huge issue for Republicans, he netted [7:00] a grand total of $1.5 million. [7:04] We are talking of orders of magnitude of difference. [7:06] The point is, the Burisma thing, look, we can do both, right? [7:10] We can say, as I did, I was one of the early people criticizing Hunter Biden on this, on [7:14] the Burisma relationship, on the conflicts of interest, et cetera. [7:16] We can also make judgments that says, okay, now that I've seen everything that the Trump [7:21] family's doing, I think what the Trump family has done is worse. [7:24] Okay, people can disagree with me about that, but you can actually go through the money. [7:29] You can talk about the amount at stake. [7:30] You can talk about the changes in policy that occur. [7:34] Joe Biden was vice president. [7:36] He wasn't the president. [7:37] There is no evidence that any policy changed as a result of Hunter Biden. [7:42] There is evidence that because of the Trump family's involvement, that policies have changed. [7:47] That's a big difference. [7:48] And I would also add, Trump has increased the budget for the Pentagon by 400, 44%, $400 billion. [7:56] He is requesting an increase in the budget, which hasn't happened yet.