Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict upends a core Trump message: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, we report Republican's mixed response to a Delaware jury finding Hunter Biden guilty on federal gun charges. Plus, national political correspondent Steve Kornacki breaks down the shifts among key demographic groups in the latest 2024 polls.

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Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict upends a core Trump message

By Jonathan Allen, Allan Smith and Katherine Doyle

Former President Donald Trump’s argument about the “weaponization” of the justice system just ran smack into a Delaware jury’s conviction of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

The result, according to some Republicans, is a major blow to one of Trump’s favorite talking points — and a boost to Biden’s case that he respects the rule of law.

“Hunter Biden’s conviction definitely weakens the argument,” said Dan Eberhart, a major Republican donor who backs Trump and thinks he should be focused on the economy rather than court cases. “To me, the justice system is working.”

The younger Biden, 54, was found guilty Tuesday on three counts related to his illegal purchase of a handgun when he was using narcotics. The elder Biden was a major proponent of the so-called Brady Bill, which made it a crime for addicts to buy guns, and it was a special prosecutor working under his Justice Department who prosecuted his son.

Last month, Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts related to falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn film actress. He faces charges in