During an interview Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden lost it on “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie for asking about his son Hunter Biden’s controversial high-paying position at Burisma, a large Ukrainian natural gas firm, during Biden’s tenure as Vice President.
Mr. Biden, who’s been dogged by questions surrounding Hunter, reacted as he’s typically reacted to such inquiries: with palpable anger.
“You don’t know what your’e talking about!” the former VP shouted at Guthrie, when the co-host suggested Hunter’s position was improper, and only a way for the company to gain access to the Obama administration.
Here’s the exchange:
Guthrie: Has it occurred to you that there’s a certain irony here that, here the president is accused of, and has acknowledged, wanting to get information about your son Hunter and his dealings with Ukraine? And this process of impeachment has ensured that everyone knows about Hunter’s dealings with Ukraine.
Biden: Thats a good thing! And no one has found anything wrong with his dealing with Ukraine, expect that they say that it set a “bad image.”
Guthrie: Would you agree that it sets a bad image?
Biden: Yeah, and my son said that!
Guthrie: Do you think it was wrong for him to take that position, knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you.
Biden: Well, that’s not true. You’re saying things that you do not know what you’re talking about! No one said that! Who said that?
Guthrie: Well —
Biden: Who said that?
Guthrie: Don’t you think that it’s just one of those things where people think, Well, that’s kind of sleazy. Why would he (Hunter) have that job if not for who his father is?
Biden: Because he’s a very bright guy.
Guthrie: Well, I guess the question I’m kind of asking is, was it right?
Biden: Well, he said he (Hunter) regretted having done it. Speaks for himself. He’s a grown man.
As noted by The Daily Wire in December, Biden was pressed by NPR about Hunter’s position on the board of Burisma, too.
“You know it didn’t look good for Hunter Biden to be on that board, even if he did nothing wrong,” NPR’s “Morning Edition” host Rachel Martin said to the former VP. “The optics weren’t good. And you talk a lot about what it means to be a Biden and the integrity that is imbued in that family name. But there were former White House aides of yours who tried to warn you about the potential conflicts of interest.”
Biden claimed he was never warned about a “potential conflict of interest.”
Martin challenged Biden, noting, “George Kent, the State Department official, testified that he raised” the issue to the then-VP’s staff.
“I never, never heard that once at all,” Biden claimed. “Well, my son was dying, so I guess that’s why he said it, because my son was on his deathbed. But that, that’s not the reason why – they should have told me.”
“And the fact of the matter is, my son testified and did an interview saying if he, looking back on it, made a mistake, he made a mistake although he did nothing wrong,” he continued. “The appearance looked bad and it gave folks like Rudy Giuliani an excuse to come up with a Trumpian kind of defense, why they were violating the Constitution. His, his words speak for themselves.”
WATCH:
.@JoeBiden snaps at @SavannahGuthrie after she asks about Hunter Biden: “You’re saying things you don’t know what you’re talking about!” pic.twitter.com/4O4LmLNenb
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 3, 2020
Related: Biden Caught Making New Apparent False Claim About Son’s Ukraine Work At Burisma