Ronna McDaniel, Chair of the Republican National Committee, accused President Joe Biden of suppressing news coverage related to his son’s laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. During an appearance on “The Story,” McDaniel responded to Biden’s remarks about the Republican Party being influenced by “MAGA Republican extremists.” She seized on Biden’s mention of the “free press” and referenced the Hunter Biden laptop story, which the FBI had flagged as potential Russian-driven disinformation.
McDaniel falsely claimed that Biden was president in 2020 and accused the White House of meeting with social media companies to influence content on their platforms before the election. She also alleged that the White House killed a Hunter Biden story that later turned out to be true, accusing them of suppressing information before the 2020 election.
It’s important to note that Joe Biden became president in January 2021, not in 2020. The Hunter Biden laptop story, published by the New York Post, faced scrutiny for its sourcing and was flagged by the FBI for potential disinformation. Ex-Twitter officials testified before Congress that they did not feel pressured to block access to the story.
The accusation of a Biden White House meeting with social media companies to dictate content before the 2020 election appears to be misleading or based on inaccurate information. The claim that the White House “killed” the Hunter Biden story is contentious and depends on one’s interpretation of the events surrounding the story’s publication and subsequent actions by social media platforms.
“This is a Biden White House that was meeting with social media companies, dictating what they put on their platforms before the 2020 election,” she said. “That, to me, is suppression. This is a White House that killed a Hunter Biden story that we now know is true, that prevented voters from knowing that before the 2020 election. That, to me, is suppression.”
