Hunter Biden said that tapping Merrick Garland as attorney general was his father’s “greatest mistake” in office, suggesting that it led to President Donald J. Trump’s second term.
The former presidential son sat down with host Jennifer Welch on the latest edition of the “I’ve Had It” podcast, another stop in a slew of appearances as he rehabs his image after personal and legal scandals, not the least of which was his addiction to crack cocaine and wild sex with hookers, both of which were documented in all their glory on the infamous laptop from hell.
At one point in the discussion, Welch laid into Garland and the Justice Department he headed up with a lack of aggression in going after Trump and devoting time and resources to probing the younger Biden, asking for his take on what she called “capitulation by Democrats” by pushing for the former judge as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
Hunter Biden: “The single greatest mistake of my father’s administration was the leadership of Merrick Garland. Did you not see these people storming the Capitol? You didn’t see a president and know that there was a concerted and planned effort? He doesn’t do anything. We don’t… pic.twitter.com/AkpCRusQUv
— Reggie B. (@reggiebblue) July 18, 2026
“One of the things that pisses me off is the Merrick Garland DOJ and the not prosecuting of Trump. And that they prosecuted you,” opined the host.
“My take is this, and removing myself from it as much as I can, my personal feelings, is the single greatest mistake of my father’s administration was the leadership of Merrick Garland,” Biden responded, adding, “The reason that we are in the situation that we’re in right now can almost… by the way, the buck has to stop with my dad. He was the president, and he chose him.”
“Now, once he chose him, he played by the, you know, a higher standard than the Marquess of Queensberry rules,” he continued. “He played by the Constitution and the tradition that the president will never, you know, particularly since Nixon, involve himself in any decision-making as relates to anything at the Department of Justice. So, I guarantee you there was a division between church and state there.”
Biden also faulted Garland for his failure to throw the book at Trump for his role in the so-called “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, calling it a “planned conspiracy” to reject the results of the 2020 election.
“[I]f Merrick Garland had started a completely 100 percent legitimate investigation rather than thinking like let’s not fan the flames… did you not watch what I watched?” Biden asked Welch.
“Did you not see the people storming the Capitol of the United States of America, beating cops and running congressmen and senators literally out of the building? You didn’t see that? You didn’t see a president and know that it was a concerted and planned effort on their part beginning all the way back from the day before the election when they knew they were going,” he said.
The host and her guest both suggested that the “moderate” Garland was only picked by Biden as a favor after former President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court to replace conservative icon Antonin Scalia, who died unexpectedly in 2016. Senate Republicans, however, thwarted his confirmation by refusing to hold hearings in an election year.
“Obama picks this milquetoast candidate. Your dad is a decent man, felt bad about what happened to Merrick Garland. And he played integrity politics,” Welch said. “Like, well, ‘I’m going to make him whole and make him attorney general.’ And then Merrick Garland gets there, and he’s like, ‘Well, we can’t upset these crusty White Republicans.'”
“Massive mistake,” Biden agreed.
The senior Biden also grumbled about Garland, apparently having second thoughts about his DOJ pick over the foot-dragging when it came to going after Trump.
“In private, Biden has also said he should have picked someone other than Merrick Garland as attorney general, complaining about the Justice Department’s slowness under Garland in prosecuting Trump, and its aggressiveness in prosecuting Biden’s son Hunter,” The Washington Post reported in a lengthy post-election profile of the outgoing president published in December 2024.
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