Trump Meets the Press on South Lawn

Donald Trump speaking at CPAC. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

President Donald Trump while speaking to reporters on Thursday urged China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, while he also doubled down on pressing the Ukraine to investigate the Biden’s.

As NBC News reports the President’s call for China to investigate the Biden’s comes as the House is engaged in an impeachment inquiry focused on his conversation with the President of Ukraine, in which he asks the President to investigate Biden, his perceived 2020 Presidential challenger.

From the clip.

President Trump is asked, what exactly he hoped the Ukraine’s President would do regarding the Biden’s.

Trump: Will I would think if they are honest about it. They would start a major investigation into the Biden’s. It’s a very simple answer. They should investigate the Biden’s. Because how does a company that’s newly formed–all these companies–if you look–and by the way, likewise China should start an investigation into the Biden’s. Because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with–with Ukraine.

Trump con’t: So I would say that President Zelensky–if it were me I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Biden’s. Because nobody has any doubt that they weren’t crooked. That was a crooked deal 100 percent. He [Hunter Biden] had no knowledge of energy, he didn’t know the first thing about it. All of a sudden he’s getting $50,000 dollars a month plus a lot of other things.

Trump con’t: Nobody has any doubt and they got rid of a prosecutor, who was a very tough prosecutor, they got rid of him. Now they are trying to make it the opposite way, but they got rid of him.

The President is then asked if he has asked China to investigate the Biden’s.

Trump: I haven’t but it’s certainly something we could start thinking about. Because I’m sure that President Xi doesn’t like being under that kind of scrutiny. Where billions of dollars is taken out of his country by a guy that just got kicked out of the Navy–he got kicked out of the Navy. All of a sudden he’s getting billions [might be millions, hard to say] of dollars. You know what they call that they call that a pay off.

On Wednesday NBC News reporter Josh Lederman explained that in 2013, then-Vice President Biden traveled to China for an official visit, his son Hunter Biden, granddaughter Finnegan traveled with the VP on Air-Force-Two.

Lederman says that Biden often took family on foreign trips, their presence on Air-Force Two was not eyebrow raising.

He adds of the 2013 trip:

What wasn’t known then was that as he accompanied his father to China, Hunter Biden was forming a Chinese private equity fund that associates said at the time was planning to raise big money, including from China. Hunter Biden has acknowledged meeting with Jonathan Li, a Chinese banker and his partner in the fund during the trip, although his spokesman says it was a social visit.

The Chinese business license that brought the new fund into existence was issued by Shanghai authorities 10 days after the trip, with Hunter Biden a member of the board.

NBC News 10/2/19.

The accusation from President Trump and allies, according Lederman, is that Hunter Biden used the Air-Force-Two trip to procure $1.5 billion from China for funding.

A spokesman for Hunter Biden, George Mesiers told NBC News that in 2013, Hunter Biden was not the owner of the company and has never gotten paid for serving on the board. Mesiers added, that Hunter Biden did not acquire an equity interest until 2017.

Andrew Bates a spokesman for the Biden Presidential Campaign called the claim a conspiracy theory.

The Washington Post Fact Checker has dismantled this conspiracy theory. Donald Trump’s degradation of his office is unacceptable.

Bates NBC News.

Lederman notes that there has been no evidence of corruption on the part of the Biden’s, either with the Ukraine scandal or China.

CNN reports, in their Live Impeachment Inquiry updates, that a Chinese Diplomat told them that it’s unlikely China will be interested in investigating the Biden’s. Adding that the President’s remarks were chaotic. They do point out that this is not an official Chinese Government statement.

We do not want to get in the middle of the US politics. This is quite chaotic. Are you asking about the comments that Trump just made? I don’t think I can tell you anything in this regard right now.

CNN Live Updates.

As a Reminder.

This is not the first time the President has suggested that a foreign country help his political campaign.

At the time candidate Trump said “Russia if you’re listening. I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

At the time the Right and candidate-Trump dismissed his comments as a “joke.”

For the hottest of hot takes on President Trump’s latest comments I give you:

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About Tiff 2521 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.