The Nickelback soundtrack isn't the dumbest part of Trump's latest hit on Biden
Fox News host Tucker Carlson featured a photo Tuesday night showing former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, posing with a "Ukraine gas company exec" in the Hamptons back in 2014, and on Wednesday, President Trump tweeted a video featuring that same photo superimposed onto a Nickelback video. Over the video, he urged people to "look at this photograph!"
The "Ukraine gas company exec" in the photo is Devon Archer, a longtime American business associate of Hunter Biden's. They were partners in an investment firm with Chris Heinz, former Secretary of State John Kerry's stepson, for five years before they joined the gas company, Burisma, at about the same time. (Heinz did not join the Burisma board.)
The insinuation in the video is that Joe Biden did in fact discuss Hunter Biden's "overseas business dealings," despite saying otherwise. This photograph doesn't support that claim. In any case, none of this has anything to do with Trump — according to the White House's own evidence and Trump's admission — asking Ukraine to open a specific investigation into a domestic political rival while he was withholding military aid.
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Photographs can tell stories, of course.
But they aren't always actually worth 1,000 words. And music doesn't always give "a soul to the universe," as Plato allegedly said. "Forcing the entire country to listen to Nickelback should be an impeachable offense," Oliver Darcy harrumphed.
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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