Biden mocked for choosing The Weather Channel for a rare sit-down TV interview

Joe Biden is sitting for an interview with The Weather Channel on Tuesday – sending critics into a tizzy with jokes about Democratic claims that the President only discussed the ‘weather’ during calls with his son’s business associates.

Hunter Biden‘s former business partner Devon Archer told Congress during a closed-door testimony earlier this month that the elder Biden, 80, would often join in business calls with his son. He insisted, however, that it was mostly casual conversation about things like the weather.

Now President Biden has agreed to the rare sit-down interview, conducted in Arizona to discuss extreme weather events across the country and how to address climate change. The interview will air in full on Wednesday.

Of the outlet choice for his first time facing a reporter since mid-July, White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt tweeted that Biden is just ‘meeting viewers where they are,’ because some voters don’t tune into political news. 

President Joe Biden is sitting down with The Weather Channel while visiting the Grand Canyon on Tuesday to discuss climate change and extreme weather events. The rare sit-down interview with air on Wednesday

Republicans jumped on the outlet choice by referencing Democratic claims that President Joe Biden only discussed the ‘weather’ when on speakerphone calls with his son Hunter Biden and his associates

Democrats hopped on Archer’s testimony as a reasonable explanation for why Biden was on the calls with his son’s foreign business associates.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) told MSNBC that it’s not a crime to ‘exchange pleasantries.’

‘Is there problematic questions about Hunter Biden? And I said something that shouldn’t be controversial, which is that if you committed a crime, you should be held accountable,’ Himes told MSNBC after Archer’s testimony. ‘But have they pointed to anything to suggest that Joe Biden engaged in corrupt behavior? No.’

He added: ‘And on the contrary, Hunter Biden’s business partner said, “Yeah, he was on some phone calls. Talking about the weather. Exchanging pleasantries.”‘

Additionally, Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) had the same odd ‘weather’ response when asked by reporters at the Capitol why he wasn’t concerned with the conversations Joe Biden had with Hunter while on speakerphone with foreign business associates.

‘It was clear that it was part of the daily conversations that Hunter had with his father,’ Himes said of the calls. ‘And it was – sounded like – most of the time, now President Biden didn’t even know who the people he was at dinner.

‘He was just asked to say, “hello.” He would, you know, talk about the – he described it several times, they asked over and over and over,’ he added. ‘He described what the weather was, “what’s going on on your end?” The witness was very, very consistent that none of those conversations ever had to do with any business dealings or transactions.

‘They were purely what he called casual conversations.’

Of the upcoming interview on The Weather Channel, Chad Gilmartin, a spokesman for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tweeted: ‘Well this makes sense since Joe Biden called Hunter’s business partners over 20 times to discuss the weather…’

Democratic Reps. Jim Himes (left) and Daniel Goldman (right) both told press that Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer said that President Joe Biden only discussed weather during speakerphone calls with foreign businesspeople

Devon Archer appeared for closed-door testimony with the House Oversight Committee last month and told the panel that there were at least 20 instances when Hunter put his father on speakerphone during meetings with foreign associates

Biden’s White House maintains that he was not involved in his son’s shady foreign business deals

‘Will he put Hunter Biden and his entire board of business partners on speakerphone as well to “talk about the weather?” Seems fitting,’ conservative internet personality Danny De Urbina tweeted.

The interview is conducted by Stephanie Abrams and will air starting on Wednesday morning.

‘Today at the Grand Canyon – the President will tape an interview on his plan to combat climate change, addressing the threat posed by extreme weather and to promote resilience,’ Communications Director LaBolt wrote. 

‘Meeting viewers where they are – including those who don’t tune into political news on a regular basis.’