Esquire has deleted a column that used a false claim about former President George H. W. Bush as the basis to justify President Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter.
In a Tuesday column, liberal pundit Charles P. Pierce claimed that Hunter Biden was not the first presidential son caught up in controversy, asking readers, “Anybody Remember Neil Bush?”
“Nobody defines Poppy Bush’s presidency by his son’s struggles or the pardons he issued on his way out of the White House. The moral: Shut the f—k up about Hunter Biden, please,” he wrote in the sub-headline.
“[The] lucky American businessman[‘s] … father exercised his unlimited constitutional power of clemency to pardon the Lucky American Businessman for all that S&L business way back when. The president’s name was George H.W. Bush. The Lucky American Businessman was his son, Neil,” Pierce continued.
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The only problem? H. W. Bush never pardoned his son.
The men’s magazine later added an editor’s note to the column: “An earlier version stated incorrectly that George H. W. Bush gave a presidential pardon to his son, Neil Bush. Esquire regrets the error.”
Sometime later, the piece was removed. The link now takes readers to a page that says, “This Column is No Longer Available.”
The page also includes a second editor’s note that notes the column was “removed due to an error” and “Esquire regrets the mistake.”
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Neil Bush caused a public relations nightmare for his father after Silverado Saving and Loan (which Neil was a board member of) collapsed and cost taxpayers approximately $1 billion. Neil later had to pay $50,000 to settle a civil lawsuit with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The son of H. W. was never criminally convicted and was not granted a pardon.
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Biden sparked backlash from both sides of the aisle for his sweeping pardon of Hunter after repeatedly saying he wouldn’t.
The pardon he ordered Sunday night covers crimes his son “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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