Sen. Ron Johnson battles Chuck Todd over Hunter Biden in tense exchange: ‘Part of the problem’
Johnson appeared on NBC's 'Meet the Press' Sunday morning
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and NBC’s "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd reignited their heated on-air arguments Sunday morning over scandals surrounding President Biden’s son Hunter Biden and the lack of media coverage on the stories.
Johnson discussed his efforts with Sen. Chuck Grassley’s, R-Iowa, to investigate Hunter Biden as well as potential interference from the FBI. Todd quickly interjected, suggesting that Hunter Biden has not been implicated in any crime.
"Senator, do you have a crime that you think Hunter Biden committed?" Todd asked. "Because I’ve yet to see anybody explain. It is not a crime to make money off of your last name."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After Johnson attempted to explain potential crimes linked to Hunter Biden, Todd repeatedly interrupted and talked over the senator’s comments.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., sparred with MSNBC host Chuck Todd on Sunday. (MSNBC)
JESSE WATTERS: HUNTER BIDEN HAS HIS FINGERPRINTS ALL OVER THIS
"I’m a journalist. I have to deal in facts. Senator, my question to you is, I have skepticism of both parties. I sit here with skepticism of a lot of people's work," Todd insisted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The conversation escalated until Johnson criticized the liberal media for refusing to cover the Hunter Biden story fairly.
"Chuck, part of the problem, and this is pretty obvious to anybody watching, is you don't invite me on to interview me, you invite me on to argue with me. I'm just trying to lay out the facts that certainly Senator Grassley and I uncovered. They were suppressed, they were censored. They interfered in the 2020 election. Conservatives understand that. Unfortunately, liberals in the media don’t. And that's part of the reasons our politics are inflamed, is we do not have an unbiased media. We don’t, it’s unfortunate. I’m all for a free press, and it needs to be more unbiased," Johnson said.
Mainstream media outlets largely ignored reporting on the story regarding Hunter Biden's laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. (Getty images)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Todd fired back, "Senator, look, we're trying to do issues here and facts. Look, you can go back on your partisan cable cocoon and talk about media bias all you want. I understand it’s part of your identity."
Johnson and Todd have frequently sparred on "Meet the Press" over the senator’s support for former President Donald Trump as well as Todd refusing to discuss Hunter Biden on the show.
In 2021, Johnson called out Todd in a lengthy spat for taking sides in the Hunter Biden discussion.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Ron Johnson has previously had verbal spars with MSNBC host Chuck Todd over his support for former President Donald Trump and attacks against Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
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"This was started when the mainstream media dropped any pretense of being unbiased and actually chose sides during this election," Johnson said. "This fire was started when you completely ignored, for example, our investigation of Hunter Biden, 'You know, no evidence of wrongdoing there,' and now we find out after the election, 'You know, there is a fair amount of evidence to the point where we have a real FBI investigation.'"
"Senator!" Todd interjected. "Alright, I've had enough of hearing this!"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News’ Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.