Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden is not referring to his son, Hunter Biden, by his name anymore as public pressure mounts for Biden’s son to testify in President Donald Trump’s Senate trial over his alleged corrupt business dealings with Ukrainian gas company Burisma.
The former vice president on Tuesday referred to his son as “my only surviving son,” in an apparent attempt to cast sympathy for him, during CNN’s Democrat presidential debate and on Twitter.
“Republicans have savaged my only surviving son,” Biden tweeted. “They’ve spread lies about me that networks won’t even carry. It doesn’t matter if they go after me. As President of the United States, I have to be able to not only fight — I have to heal. And that’s what I’ll do if I’m elected.”
Republicans have savaged my only surviving son. They’ve spread lies about me that networks won’t even carry. It doesn’t matter if they go after me.
As President of the United States, I have to be able to not only fight — I have to heal. And that’s what I’ll do if I’m elected.
— Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) January 15, 2020
During the presidential debate, Biden had the following exchange with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer [emphasis added]:
BLITZER: Tomorrow, the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, will send articles of impeachment against President Trump to the United States Senate, launching the third trial of a U.S. president. The Republican-led Senate has signaled that it is likely to acquit him.
Vice President Biden, if you’re the nominee, is it going to be harder to run against President Trump if he’s been acquitted and able to claim vindication, especially after what he’s said about your family?
BIDEN: It’s irrelevant. There’s no — there’s no choice but to — for Nancy Pelosi and the House to move. He has, in fact, committed impeachable offenses. Whether the Senate makes that judgment or not, it’s for them to decide.
But — and, by the way, I’m told that, you know, we — that I don’t — I say we have to unite the country and it’s going to be harder after this trial. It may be. But, look, you know, I understand how these guys are, this Republican Party. They’ve got gone after — savaged my surviving son, gone after me, told lies that your networks and others won’t even carry on television because they’re flat-out lies.
Biden’s new way of referring to his son comes after The New York Times reported this week that the Russian military successfully hacked Burisma in an effort to dig up dirt on the Bidens ahead of the 2020 election.
“The controversy surrounding Biden stems from the fact that his son was hired by Burisma to be on the company’s board of directors — despite not having any experience in natural gas or in Ukraine — at a time when the Obama administration tapped Biden to handle U.S. interests in Ukraine,” The Daily Wire reported. “In 2016, Biden sought to remove a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the company that his son was working for over allegations of corruption.”
Biden has repeatedly blown up on the campaign trail when people have asked him about his son, who was previously kicked out of the U.S. Navy for using cocaine.
“Mr. Vice President, how many times have you ever spoken to your son about his overseas business dealings?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked.
“I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,” Biden falsely claimed. “And here’s what I know, I know Trump deserves to be investigated. He is violating every basic norm of a president. You should be asking him the question, why is he on the phone with a foreign leader trying to intimidate a foreign leader, if that’s what happened, that appears to be what happened, you should be looking at Trump.”
“Everybody looked at this, and everybody’s looked at it and said there’s nothing there,” Biden claimed. “Ask the right questions!”
Joe Biden on his Ukraine scandal: “Why's [Trump] on the phone with a foreign leader trying to intimidate [them]?”
Biden in 2016 on what he told Ukraine: “I looked at them and said: ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money’” pic.twitter.com/IjNgweVH67
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 21, 2019
In November, Doocy asked Biden about his son fathering a child with a woman in Arkansas while he was dating his brother’s widow.
Doocy asked Biden, “Do you have a comment on this report and court filing out of Arkansas that your son Hunter just made you a grandfather?”
“No, that’s a private matter, I have no comment,” Biden responded.
“But only you would ask that,” Biden said in an agitated state. “You’re a good man. You’re a good man. Classy.”
Biden gets angry at a reporter for doing his job:
Reporter: "Do you have a comment on this report and court filing out of Arkansas that your son Hunter just made you a grandfather?"
Biden: "No, that's a private matter, I have no comment. But only you would ask that. … Classy" pic.twitter.com/vxPzE8St8Q
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 21, 2019