'Show me your phone': Hunter Biden blasts Platner criticism on Newsom podcast

Lia Russell, The Sacramento Bee on Jun 11, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The U.S. political class judges candidates too harshly for past bad behavior, discouraging people from running for office, Hunter Biden said in a forthcoming episode of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom.”

In a four-minute clip obtained by The Sacramento Bee, Biden referred to reports that one of Maine’s U.S. Senate nominees Graham Platner had sexted with other women in the early days of his marriage. Platner overwhelmingly won his state’s Democratic primary on Tuesday.

“I think that his relationship with his wife is his relationship with his wife. The entirety of that controversy, it’s all about leaked consensual stuff,” said Biden, the wayward young son of former President Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden has reemerged in recent weeks online, posting on X and giving interviews about his life in recovery for his substance use disorder and ensuing legal troubles created political headaches for his father.

Joe Biden pardoned his son, who was facing federal prison time for tax evasion and illegal gun charges, in the waning days of his presidency. Newsom called the move “disappointing.”

“I always say to people, show me your phone. Give me access to your iCloud. Let’s go through it and pull everything that we can that is inappropriate, that is off-color, that selfie that you took when you’re drunk off your ass,” Biden said to Newsom. “And if that’s the standard by which we are going to judge people, particularly people in elected office, then I don’t think we’re going to have many people in elected office.”

Newsom had his own marital scandal, albeit pre-social media, in 2007, when the then-mayor of San Francisco admitted to having an affair with his aide’s wife.

The full episode of Biden’s appearance on “This Is Gavin Newsom” was not yet available ahead of its expected Friday morning release.

Politico first reported the clip of Biden talking about Platner, in which he applauded his rhetoric blaming oligarchs and billionaires for exploiting political disagreement to guide voters from voting for their own interests and praised New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

TMZ obtained another clip in which Biden appeared to jokingly suggest he would run as vice president if Newsom runs for president in 2028 as expected.