Last week’s Megyn Kelly panel cut through the Beltway spin and laid bare what conservatives have been saying for years: the modern Democratic Party picks optics over leadership. Megyn Kelly and her guests tore into Karine Jean-Pierre’s self-promotional book tour and the administration’s insistence that identity trumps competence, a theme the left never tires of pushing. The segment also revisited remarks from Hunter Biden that, rightly or wrongly, have been seized upon by critics as further proof of a transactional, image-first political culture inside the Biden orbit.
Remember that Joe Biden himself promised to pick a woman as his running mate during the 2020 primary season, a pledge that immediately turned the selection process into a checklist rather than a sober vetting of leadership and fitness. That public promise opened the door to choosing based on demographic boxes instead of clear-eyed judgment about who can lead in a crisis. Conservatives warned then that setting identity as the primary criterion would hollow out accountability and encourage the very PR-first tactics we’re seeing now.
Kamala Harris was of course the beneficiary of that calculation, and Democrats spun the historic nature of her selection as an unquestionable virtue. She was the first woman of both Black and South Asian heritage to reach the vice presidency, a fact the left celebrated as progress even as her performance repeatedly failed to match the rhetoric. The result has been predictable: when identity is the headline, substance too often becomes the footnote.
As Megyn Kelly’s guests noted, Hunter Biden’s public comments and posture have given conservatives more ammunition to say what too many on the right already suspected — that for the Bidens, access and image are interchangeable with competency. Whether Hunter’s remarks were blunt admissions or self-indulgent ramblings, they reinforce a pattern where appearances and influence-peddling matter more than governing. Americans who work for a living and expect real results deserve better than a political class that markets virtue while delivering chaos.
Karine Jean-Pierre’s new memoir and book tour have become Exhibit A for Democratic vanity and the identity-first playbook, with critics openly questioning whether the former press secretary cared more about branding than briefing America. Reporters and pundits are now parsing whether her memoir and her pivot away from the Democratic Party are sincere revelations or just another PR move to monetize a partisan resume. Either way, the spectacle underlines a rot: when top communications officials prioritize their own celebrity over honest information, the public loses.
This isn’t merely theater; it has consequences. Kamala Harris’s recent reflections in her own memoir acknowledged the political calculus behind ticket-building, underscoring that these choices were often driven by perceived electoral optics rather than straightforward merit. Conservatives should not be shy about pointing out that when the left treats leadership like a marketing campaign, the nation’s security and prosperity pay the price. Voters deserve leaders chosen for courage and competence, not chosen to satisfy the latest identity checklist.
Americans who love liberty and hard work must keep pushing this argument into the public square. The Megyn Kelly conversation was a reminder that the media-industrial complex will keep selling the same product — identity over ability — unless conservatives keep exposing it and offering a genuine alternative. Hold officials accountable for results, demand transparency about motives, and refuse to let the ruling class trade our country’s future for one more PR headline.
