The New York Times‘s Michael Barbaro criticized conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, saying he attacked "a candidate's child," 49-year-old Hunter Biden.

"As this fellow circulates personal attacks on a candidates child, remember he's paid by NBC and MSNBC," tweeted Barbaro, host of The Daily podcast, about Hewitt's interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), which touched on Hunter Biden.

As this fellow circulates personal attacks on a candidates child, remember he’s paid by @NBC and @MSNBC https://t.co/38kbq1UnsI — Michael Barbaro (@mikiebarb) September 26, 2019

In the interview, Cotton cited Hunter's various character issues, such as drug and alcohol abuse, as evidence he was only hired by a Ukrainian gas company because he is the son of then-vice president Joe Biden. "What do we think that oligarch believed he was buying?" Cotton asked. "He was buying access and influence to the Biden family."

Hewitt tweeted out portions of the exchange in which Cotton brought up an Arkansas woman who filed a paternity suit against the younger Biden.

From @SenTomCotton this AM: "There is a young women in her 20s in Arkansas who has filed a paternity suit in Arkansas state court against Hunter Biden. And he is dodging process, and has done so for months. — Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) September 26, 2019

Among those pushing back against Barbaro's protective attitude toward a middle-aged lobbyist was Cotton staffer John Noonan, who tweeted that he was "dying laughing."

lol what? 49 year old Hunter Biden? Dying laughing rn https://t.co/PCVLZF7UEz — John Noonan (@noonanjo) September 26, 2019

have we no decency? Aren't children supposed to be off limits!? pic.twitter.com/T9vENJOXkv — John Noonan (@noonanjo) September 26, 2019

In addition to his questionable business dealings in Ukraine, Hunter Biden partnered with the nephew of infamous gangster Whitey Bulger and former secretary of state John Kerry's stepson on a lucrative Bank of China deal.