Social media users and conspiracy theorists seem to be obsessed with Hunter Biden and are making bizarre claims about his foreign dealing. Recently an image was posted on Facebook showing Hunter and his father, democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, playing golf with two others. The caption of the viral image claimed that the Bidens were rubbing shoulders with the CEO of Burisma, Ukraine's largest gas company.
The image going viral has more to do with the former vice president repeatedly denying knowing or having met the Burisma CEO. Social media users since then have been asking questions and trying to find out the authenticity of the photograph as the people along with the father son duo in the photograph are yet to be identified.
What the Photo Claims
The image caption claims that the Bidens were captured playing golf with the Burisma CEO in the Hamptons. The claim follows the senior Biden's interview on CBS' '60 Minutes' and a series of stories that appeared in the New York Post about Hunter's alleged dealing with Chinese and Ukrainian companies.
That said, the image draws strength from an October 2019 tweet from President Donald Trump, who first claimed that the Bidens were playing golf with CEO of the oil company.
However, the authenticity of the image, which re-appeared sometime back in September on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' on Fox TV, is yet to be verified. "So...On 60 Minutes, Joe said he never met with Hunter and the Burisma CEO. Well, here he is with both..." reads the October 28 Facebook post that has been shared more than 900 times now.
Is that the Burisma CEO?
Many on social media are yet to realize that the image may be authentic but the people claimed to be Burisma's officials are not true. A few reports, including one in USA Today, claim the first man from left to be Devon Archer, who is longtime business associate of Hunter, while the man right of Archer is Ralph Pascucci, the founder of New York investment banking firm Netrex Capital Markets LLC.
That puts an end to a lot of speculation but it hasn't helped stop the debate on social media. However, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Archer and Hunter were both inducted to Burisma's board of directors in 2014 and one reason behind this claim could be that many have been misinterpreting Archer as the CEO of the oil giant.
Burisma's current CEO's name is Taras Burdeinyi, while the company was founded by Mykola Zlochevsky in 2002 but to put it straight none are part of the image doing the rounds. Moreover, Biden in his interview on '60 Minutes' never brings up the name of Burisma. He was asked about the allegations surrounding Hunter to which the senior Biden said that it is a "smear campaign" because Trump "has nothing he wants to talk about." However, despite that the social media continues to be abuzz with Hunter Biden's alleged dealings with Burisma.
