Bulwark Takes - Breaking: Trump Vindictively Revokes Hunter Biden’s Secret Service Protection

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Tim Miller breaks down the shocking news of Donald Trump revoking Hunter and Ashley Biden's Secret Service protection and explains why, of all people, Trump should understand just how malicious it is to do so.

Hey everybody, Tim Miller from the Bulwark here. We got some breaking news, more bait. Let's be honest, this is bait from Donald Trump. But sometimes, you know, bait needs to be condemned anyway, and I'm the man to do it. So here it is. The latest is about Hunter Biden. He put out a bleat that Hunter Biden has had Secret Service protection for too long. Well, yeah, I mean, his dad's been president and vice president and Senate for a long time. He said there has been these 18 people in his detail, which is ridiculous. He's vacationing in South Africa. Then he's been going on this reverse racism rant about South Africa. I guess Elon Musk got in his ear, but he's been really focused.

Weirdly, we remember we kicked out the South African diplomat recently. So he's on the South African kick. Anyway, Hunter Biden's in South Africa. At the end, he goes on to say Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, his sister Ashley Biden, who has 13 agents, will be taken off the list. No Secret Service protection. Okay, so let's just cut to the chase here. Cutting off Secret Service protection for the Biden kids

is petty. It's stupid. It's dangerous. It's totally unnecessary. And frankly, I think over the long term, it's going to be something that the Trump family really comes to regret. Because you don't think Biden wanted to cut off the Secret Service protection from the Trumps or didn't think about it after Trump inspired an insurrection at the Capitol? Was a felon convicted of 34 felony counts? I mean, there were plenty of arguments or people that were saying that Trump and his kids don't deserve Secret Service. That notion didn't even get considered in the Biden White House. You know, I wasn't even on the table. This idea that there would just be this petty effort to punish the Trump family and to put themselves in danger. And you think this just goes to show you Trump is such a narcissistic prick.

It's just like you would think that a fucking near death experience. You'd think that a bullet grazing your ear would be the type of thing that could change a man remember how during the campaign they kind of went through a phase where they pretended like he was changed by this this guy knows how important secret service is he knows the dangers and the threats out there he experienced it trump did and for him to then just put hunter biden ashley biden at like this, to put a target on their back, and to do so just so petulantly as a troll, it's pathetic. to go all George Conway on you, but it is the moves of just a malignant narcissist who does not care about a single person but himself and cannot be made to have even the slightest amount of empathy even after a head move saved his life, even after a near-death experience, even after seeing God, he still cannot be made to have empathy for other people.

This is just, this person is sick. And I'm telling you, the next Democratic president is going to be way more petty than Joe Biden, if there ever is one. And I think that probably Donald Trump and his family, probably Donald Trump has probably cost his family Secret Service protection forever. And I don't know, you know, again, this is not near of my expertise. Do we over protect people do we have too much secret service protection on you know former president's kids and all this sort of stuff should there be reviews of all this should we be managing resources better maybe i don't know this is just like all the doge stuff maybe maybe that stuff's all worth reviewing

but like that's not what this is this is a troll troll. This is, you know, something, some chum to feed the base. You know, this is something to put in the water to distract from the fact that the economy is teetering on the brink right now. That's what all this is. You know, this is not a serious review. This is not like, oh, 18 is too many. He should have 14. That's not what this is. And then to throw Ashley Biden in there, clearly that's just something to get at Joe Biden, to try to upset Joe Biden.

And it's just – it's the move of a total prick. And this is not the kind of thing that will probably have political salience but that doesn't mean it should be ignored because it's not right and let me just say when it comes to hunter biden i don't know if there's anybody out there um on kind of the pro democracy side that is more disgusted with hunter biden than i am i'm just gonna say that like i don't uh the fact that he's he has a child he's not parenting, his painting is a total grift. The way he tried to guilt trip his dad to keep him in the race. The fact that he was totally inappropriate, the types of meetings he was taking in the White House.

It was totally inappropriate, the amount of calls he was trying to get his father to take. He created problems for Joe Biden. He's partly responsible for trump's re-election frankly um you know had hunter biden just shut up and just like gotten a normal job working as a lawyer for some somewhere um rather than trying to trade on the family name um you know i don't know that probably would have helped Biden on balance, would have helped Kamala Harris. But unfortunately, these guys had to carry this guy's baggage for four years. And he has his problems.

I get it. I get it. He's overcome his problems. And I applaud him for overcoming his problems. But that doesn't change the decisions that he's made since becoming sober. So I don't have any particular sympathy for him, but the threats against him are obviously real and he obviously deserves protection and to single him out or to single him out and his sister out,

you know, when they're and not to do that for other children of the presidents is fucking sickening it's wrong and imagine what what if someone actually tries to do something about this i don't even want to say the words i don't even want to put it out into society but this is again this is putting a target on his back and ashley what the fuck did Ashley Biden do? Nothing. These are bad people. We've seen it on – I've been discussing it on the immigration front, and now we're seeing it here.

And there have been others, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, but to target the kids like this – I know they're grown children. But to target them, especially after everything Trump went through, this just shows somebody that is black to the core. And I've got to tell you, God willing, nothing bad happens. God willing, nothing bad happens. So that's the breaking news here. We'll keep monitoring what's happened. Shout out to my boys at Dirty Coast who are dressing me today. And make sure to subscribe to the feed. We'll be back here soon.