Hunter Biden interview goes off rails after call drops
Mario Nawfal says his hands were "tied" on what he could ask president's son.
Hunter Biden’s interview on a Twitter Spaces live broadcast devolved into chaos after he was apparently disconnected from the line, and the host launched into a rant about his hands being "tied" on what he was allowed to ask the president’s son.
Hunter Biden appeared on "The Crypto Roundtable Show" with host Mario Nawfal on Tuesday, the day of the week the host typically reserves for topics related to NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Biden, however, had very little commentary to offer on NFTs or cryptocurrency.
Biden appeared on the show alongside "Tron" producer Donald Kushner and talked a little about his drug recovery and how painting around the clock has helped him stay sober, and Kushner promoted his new Web3-inspired Cryptosaurs NFT collection.
Toward the end of the interview, as Nawfal was thanking the men for appearing on the show, it appeared that they both hopped off without saying anything. The perceived slight sent Nawfal into rant, saying his "hands were tied" on what he could ask Biden.
JOE BIDEN MET WITH AT LEAST 14 OF HUNTER BIDEN'S BUSINESS ASSOCIATES WHILE VICE PRESIDENT
"They just jumped off now," he said. "So, that gives you an idea of how – behind the scenes, that was tough. … There was a lot of requirements we had to meet. F--- that was so stressful. That was so f---ing stressful, man."
FILE - Hunter Biden is the son of President Joe Biden. (Kevin Lamarque)
"There’s a lot of stories that I wasn't aware of that kind of made this significantly more tricky and delicate," he continued.
"Usually, I’m very open, I ask questions, I debate," he added. "It’s like a free mic, anyone could ask any questions. We always let debates happen. But this is the first time where we, like, kind of f---ing hands tied: ‘These are the questions you ask. You can't ask any other questions.’ And, bro, it was difficult."
Nawfal vowed that he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
"My fault was to accept any guests, I don't care if it's a president next time, any guests that comes on, that’s my rule moving forward as of today," he said. "Any guest that comes on from now on has to be ready to be able to answer any f---ing question we want to ask – no pre-packed questions."
Hunter Biden during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 18, 2022. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A producer then jumped in to say he was "getting messages that they didn't leave" and that an apparent glitch had dropped the call.
Mike Bonhoeffer, Kushner’s partner on Cryptosaurs, then called in and slammed the host for jumping to conclusions.
"I have not heard anybody thrown under the bus that way because of a glitch on your system that knocked Donald and Hunter off the network go so quickly dark and put the blame on somebody that had no control over what happened and quickly construct a narrative," Bonhoeffer said. "This is part of the bull---- that goes on. You build a narrative that had no basis in truth."
"Hunter is somebody who does not want to talk about politics because he's not a politician, he's an artist," he continued. "And we took a look at the stream of vitriol that came when you put the promo up on your Twitter feed, and it was thousands of people s----talking Hunter Biden. So, we had to put constraints on this."
Hunter Biden during the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 18, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Nawfal acknowledged that he jumped to conclusions about the calls dropping just before more technical difficulties abruptly caused producers to reset the show.
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After returning, Nawfal insisted that the frequency of glitches was highly "unusual," and he reiterated his position that he will no longer agree to pre-approved questions or topics.
Biden is currently under federal investigation over his tax affairs and overseas business dealings. His lawyer did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Matteo Cina contributed to this report.
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