The 4 different ways Republicans are reacting to the Hunter Biden verdict

• Hunter Biden has been convicted on three felony gun charges.

• Republicans seem divided on what to make of it.

• Some of them are celebrating it, while others say it's a ruse. Some even seem to be defending him.

Hunter Biden was convicted on Tuesday of three federal charges related to him purchasing a gun while using illegal drugs.

It's the first time that the child of a sitting US president has been convicted of a crime. And it comes less than two weeks after former President Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in New York.

One might expect Republicans to be unanimously cheering the decision — to the extent that it will affect the presidential election at all, it's likely to hurt President Joe Biden more than it helps.

Yet that's not how all Republicans are reacting.

That's because much of the party has argued in recent years that the Biden administration has targeted former President Donald Trump, and the conviction of the president's son complicates that idea.

"This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family," said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt following the verdict.

Also, some Republicans happen to like guns.

Here are the four different ways the GOP is responding to the conviction.

It's not enough

While Republicans who go with this line aren't criticizing the conviction, they argue that there's much more out there.

Congressional Republicans have long been investigating the Biden family, aiming to eventually impeach the president on charges of influencing-peddling related to his son's business dealings — though it appears increasingly unlikely.

Some Republicans are also pointing out that Hunter Biden initially had a plea deal with the federal government, only for it to fall apart.

It's a sham or a smoke screen

More than a few Republicans are arguing that the conviction is some sort of smoke screen or ruse — either to cover up for more grave crimes supposedly committed by the Biden family, or to create the appearance of impartial justice.

"Hunter Biden just became the Deep State's sacrificial lamb to show that Justice is 'balanced' while the other Biden crimes remain ignored," wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

Similarly, Stephen Miller — a top Trump advisor on immigration-related matters — argued that the conviction constituted an "easy op for DJ to sell to a pliant media."

"This is all about protecting Joe Biden and only Joe Biden," Miller wrote.

It's justice served

Some Republicans, believe it or not, are indeed satisfied with the result.

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said that Hunter Biden's actions had given "law-abiding, Second Amendment-loving gun owners a bad name," while praising the conviction as the right decision.

Rep. Josh Brecheen, a freshman House Freedom Caucus member from Oklahoma, also celebrated the verdict.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan — a GOP Senate candidate who got in trouble with Trumpworld for urging people to respect the verdict in Trump's case — simply said "we must respect the legal process."

It's a travesty

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, an idiosyncratic libertarian, isn't a fan of the gun charges.

"There are millions of marijuana users who own guns in this country, and none of them should be in jail for purchasing or possessing a firearm against current laws," said Massie.

And top Trump ally Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida — without elaborating — said that the conviction is "kinda dumb."

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