Esquire has removed a column that used a false claim about former President George HW Bush as a basis to justify President Biden’s decision forgive his son, Hunter.
In a Tuesday column Liberal pundit Charles P. Pierce claimed that Hunter Biden was not the first presidential son to be embroiled in controversy, asking readers, “Does anyone remember Neil Bush?”
“No one defines Poppy Bush’s presidency by his son’s struggle or the pardons he issued as he left the White House. The moral: please shut up about Hunter Biden,” he wrote in the caption.
“(The) Lucky American Businessman(s) … father exercised his unlimited constitutional clemency power to pardon the Lucky American Businessman long ago for all those S&L cases. The President’s name was George HW Bush. The Lucky American Businessman was his son, Neil,” Pierce continued.
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Esquire removed a column that inaccurately drew a comparison between Hunter Biden and George HW Bush’s son. (Bettmann/Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The only problem? HW Bush never pardoned his son.
The men’s magazine later added an editor’s note to the column: “An earlier version incorrectly stated that George HW Bush granted a presidential pardon to his son, Neil Bush. Esquire regrets the error.”
Some time later the piece was removed. The link is now taking readers to a page that says, “This column is no longer available.”
The page also includes a second editor’s note noting that the column was “removed due to an error” and “Esquire regrets the error.”
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FILE – President Joe Biden, wearing a Team USA jacket and walking with his son Hunter Biden, heads toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Neil Bush caused a PR nightmare for his father after Silverado Saving and Loan (of which Neil was a board member) collapsed, costing taxpayers about $1 billion. Neil later had to pay $50,000 to settle a civil lawsuit with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). HW’s son was never criminally convicted and was not pardoned.
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Biden caused a backlash from both sides of the aisle for his sweeping pardon for Hunter after he repeatedly said he wouldn’t.
The pardon he ordered on Sunday evening relates to crimes his son “committed or may have committed” from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024.
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Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.
