The double-barreled threat to Biden: Poor polling and his son's intensifying legal woes

The indictment of first son Hunter Biden on federal gun charges is the latest powder keg threatening to blow up President Joe Biden's reelection bid.

Federal prosecutors indicted the younger Biden on Thursday, saying he falsified a gun application by not mentioning his drug use when seeking a permit. The indictment does not address any potential tax crimes, for which he could still face charges. Hunter had planned to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges before that plea agreement fell apart.

Thursday's development seems to undercut the president's prior claim that "[m]y son has done nothing wrong" and his son's criminal charges could further damage his credibility with the American public at a time when his own conduct and image have come under fire.

While the gun charges themselves are unlikely to blow back on the president in any direct way, special counsel David Weiss's continued investigation of the first son may attract renewed scrutiny of the Biden family finances, which have already drawn the eyes of House Republicans and prompted an impeachment inquiry.

Potentially connecting both matters is the allegation that Biden, while vice president, unilaterally changed U.S. policy and threatened then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko with the withholding of a loan to secure the firing of Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who was investigating energy firm Burisma at the time.

An FBI document containing confidential human source information alleged that Burisma executives hired Hunter Biden to serve on the board of the company in order to secure access to his father and orchestrate Shokin's ouster. Both Bidens allegedly received multi-million dollar sums in compensation for their efforts.

The investigation into the younger Biden has been ongoing since 2018. Weiss, in his capacity as U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, pursued the case for years, though whistleblowers ultimately came forward with allegations that Weiss and others faced political inference. IRS Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Special Agent Joseph Ziegler testified before the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this year that Biden-appointed officials blocked Weiss from bringing some of the strongest charges against the first son outside of his jurisdiction.

The case was set to conclude with the plea agreement, though it ultimately fell through and Attorney General Merrick Garland subsequently named Weiss special counsel to continue the case. It remains unclear whether Weiss will refile the tax charges from the plea deal, bring new charges, or none at all. In any case, charges against the younger Biden may well confirm Biden family corruption in the eyes of the public and blow back on his father, who is struggling to improve public perception of himself.

Biden's job approval has been underwater since August of 2021, when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and unceremoniously ended the 20-year American military presence in the country.

At present, 41.4% of the public approve of his performance in the RealClearPolitics polling average. By contrast, 54.0% disapprove. His situation appears even worse on the issues. Thirty-seven percent support his handling of the economy, while 40.2% back him on foreign policy, 32.6% support his handling of inflation, 35.0% approve of him on crime, and 33.3% support his immigration efforts.

Historically, Biden's overall favorability rating rates somewhere in the middle of modern presidencies. UC Santa Barbara's "Presidency Project" show Biden's 41.4% rating ahead of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, who each earned scant 34% approval ratings in their final terms, but far behind Barack Obama (59%), Bill Clinton (66%) and Ronald Reagan (63%).

His performance appears to have given many Americans a healthy dose of buyer's remorse, with a plurality now preferring former President Donald Trump in the event of a rematch between the pair. As of press time, Trump leads Biden in a head-to-head matchup by 0.4% on average.

Even some steadfast Biden supporters, such as Washington Post columnist David Ignatius has openly called for the president to step aside in 2024. A February Associated Press/NORC poll showed that only 37% of Democrats say they want him to seek a second term, PBS reported.

Biden's poor polling, legal woes, and seemingly endless string of gaffes and stumbles – both verbal and physical – has led many to question whether he represents the Democrats' best chance against Trump in 2024. California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has regularly topped the list of possible replacements though he has personally rejected pursuing a 2024 White House bid and suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris is situated to assume leadership if Biden falters in some way.

"I think the vice president is naturally the one lined up ... It's the Biden-Harris administration," he said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." "President Biden is going to run, and we’re looking forward to getting him reelected."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.