Brooks and Capehart on the political impact of the latest charges against Hunter Biden

David Brooks:

I thought it was the right deal at the time, because the normal thing is, you have got a bunch of issues, they're somewhat related and on security, and so you give every — you put it all in one package and everybody gets a piece.

The downside is, if it doesn't go through, everybody loses. And so we're now facing the real possibility of that. First, if we don't support Ukraine, it's a disaster for American reputation. It's going to be a disaster for America's budget, because, if Vladimir Putin takes Ukraine, you think defense spending is high now?

The defense spending is going to be a lot higher then. And it's a disaster for our relations to our allies that we can't be trusted. It's a disaster for Xi Jinping, who sees the U.S. can't defend its allies. And so, to me, it's just a disaster.

Nonetheless, I differ with Jonathan a bit, in that I do think the Republicans have thrown a bunch of different ideas on the table for what they want on the Southern border, adjusting the asylum rules, E-Verify, all sorts of proposals. And I think the Democrats should hop on as much as they possibly can, because the border is a genuine national crisis.

It's also their biggest, the Democrats' biggest political liability. And so if there's any possibility for a deal, I think that the Democrats will be very smart to say, we and the Republicans take co-ownership of the border right now, because, otherwise, it's very perilous for Joe Biden's reelection chances.

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