- NPR CEO admitted the outlet was wrong to dismiss the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation.
- Internal whistleblowers revealed NPR avoided the story to avoid helping Donald Trump.
- Major outlets later verified the laptop’s contents, but NPR’s delayed coverage skewed the 2020 election narrative.
- Critics argue NPR’s liberal bias is institutional, with past social media posts from its CEO fueling skepticism.
- GOP lawmakers are questioning NPR’s taxpayer funding due to its partisan reporting track record.
For years, National Public Radio (NPR) dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal as a non-story, a "distraction," or even Russian disinformation—until now. Under congressional scrutiny, NPR CEO Katherine Maher admitted Wednesday that the taxpayer-funded outlet was "mistaken" in failing to aggressively cover the explosive revelations about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and their potential ties to his father, President Joe Biden.
The belated confession, made during a hearing before the House Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee, confirms what critics have long argued: NPR’s newsroom operates with a clear liberal bias, sidelining stories that could damage Democrats.
A pattern of partisan avoidance
Maher, who took over NPR in 2024, was not at the helm when the New York Post first broke the laptop story in October 2020. But her admission underscores a systemic failure within the organization. At the time, NPR’s public editor, Kelly McBride, dismissed the Post’s reporting as having "many, many red flags," including unsubstantiated claims of Russian interference. NPR Managing Editor Terence Samuel went further, saying it wasn't really a story.
Yet internal revelations from former NPR editor Uri Berliner, who blew the whistle last year, exposed the real motive: fear of helping Donald Trump. "During a meeting with colleagues, I listened as one of NPR’s best and most fair-minded journalists said it was good we weren’t following the laptop story because it could help Trump," Berliner wrote.
The laptop’s contents—emails detailing Hunter’s lucrative deals in Ukraine and China, alongside compromising personal material—were later verified by major outlets like The Washington Post and The New York Times. But by then, the 2020 election was over.
NPR’s reluctance to cover the Hunter Biden story stands in stark contrast to its eagerness to amplify unverified claims during the Trump era, from Russiagate to the Steele dossier. The outlet’s dismissive attitude toward the laptop mirrored its handling of other contentious issues, such as the COVID lab-leak theory, which Maher also conceded during the hearing was prematurely dismissed. "We made a mistake," she repeated—a refrain that rings hollow after years of skewed coverage.
Critics argue NPR’s bias is institutional. Berliner’s essay last April detailed how the newsroom’s progressive culture stifled dissenting views, with editors avoiding stories that didn’t align with a left-wing narrative. Even Maher’s past social media posts—labeling Trump a "racist" and "sociopath"—raise questions about her ability to oversee an ostensibly neutral news outlet. When pressed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Maher admitted regret for those remarks but stopped short of renouncing NPR’s broader ideological slant.
A reckoning for publicly funded media?
The hearing highlighted growing Republican scrutiny of NPR’s federal funding, which flows through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. While NPR claims only 1% of its budget comes directly from government grants, its member stations rely heavily on taxpayer dollars—up to 30% for rural outlets. GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), argue that biased reporting undermines NPR’s right to public support.
Maher insisted NPR remains "nonpartisan," but her testimony—and the outlet’s track record—suggest otherwise. The Hunter Biden laptop debacle is just one example of a broader trend of NPR delaying or downplaying stories that challenge liberal orthodoxy until the facts become undeniable.
NPR’s admission is a small step toward accountability, but it comes years after the damage was done. The laptop story wasn’t a "distraction"—it was a legitimate scandal with implications for Joe Biden. By ignoring it, NPR failed its audience and its mandate. If the outlet wants to rebuild trust, it must confront its biases head-on—not just when forced to by Congress. Until then, taxpayers have every right to ask why their dollars are funding what increasingly looks like partisan activism masquerading as journalism.
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