Donald Trump urges China to investigate Joe Biden
US president defiant in the face of impeachment proceedings
Donald Trump has publicly called on China to investigate Joe Biden, in defiance of an impeachment investigation launched after he made a similar but private request of the Ukrainian prime minister.
“China should start an investigation into the Bidens,” the US president said. “What happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.”
Asked if he had already asked China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to mount an investigation into his rival, the president said: “I haven’t, but it’s certainly something we can start thinking about.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Then, in a late night tweet, he wrote that, as president, he has “an absolute right, perhaps even a duty”, to “investigate, or have investigated, CORRUPTION, and that would include asking, or suggesting, other Countries to help us out!”
The news comes after CNN revealed that Trump discussed Biden with Xi in June. During a phone call with the Chinese leader, the US president talked about Biden’s political prospects and those of Elizabeth Warren, who by then had started rising in the polls, according to the broadcaster’s sources.
“Chinese officials listening to Trump might surmise that obtaining a favourable trade deal with the United States may require helping the President win the election,” it said.
The White House does not deny that Biden’s name came up. A spokeswoman said: “We are not going to start discussing the contents of every conversation President Trump has with world leaders, other than to say his conversations are always appropriate.”
In response to Trump’s remarks, a Chinese diplomat said: “This is quite chaotic. We do not want to get in the middle of the US politics.”
Trump accuses Biden and his son Hunter of corruption in their political and business dealings in Ukraine and China. He has never offered evidence.
His latest remarks surprised many. “Impeachment, it seems, has got under Trump’s skin like nothing else,” says The Guardian. “His tone has become more frantic, frenzied and apocalyptic”.
Adam Schiff, the US House intelligence committee's Democratic chairman, said Trump's latest comments mean he has broken his oath of office. “The president of the United States encouraging a foreign nation to interfere again to help his campaign by investigating a rival is a fundamental breach of a president's oath of office,” he said.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing U.S. campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Who will win the 2024 presidential election?
In Depth Election year is here. Who are pollsters and experts predicting to win the White House?
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
National Enquirer helped Trump in 2016, ex-boss says
Speed Read David Pecker says the tabloid published fabricated content to hurt Trump's rivals
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Sitting in judgment on Trump
Opinion Who'd want to be on this jury?
By Susan Caskie Published
-
'Elevating Earth Day into a national holiday is not radical — it's practical'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'Republicans want to silence Israel's opponents'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?
Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published