Despite calling on Congress to move forward on impeachment if President Trump “doesn’t cooperate” with their investigation Tuesday afternoon. Joe Biden avoided the issue entirely during a ritzy fundraiser held in Baltimore, Maryland, fundraiser that evening.
While the former vice president couldn’t actually make the event — he was forced forced to address attendees via speaker phone after getting stuck in traffic en route from Wilmington, Delaware — much of his speech was almost indistinguishable from the message he delivers at standard campaign stops.
The fundraiser followed his afternoon remarks in his hometown of Wilmington, Del. where he came out in support of impeaching the president should Trump refuse to cooperate with Congress. Currently, House Democrats are investigating claims made by an intelligence community whistleblower that Trump repeatedly urged Ukrainian Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the summer to probe the Biden family’s business dealings in the country.
Biden’s press conference, originally slated for 2:30 p.m., aired before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she was backing a formal impeachment inquiry, though no vote is scheduled at this time. Trump has since promised to release a transcript of his July 25 call with the Ukrainian President, with the White House reportedly considering making public the underlying whistleblower complaint.
“If a president does not comply with such a request to Congress, if he continues to obstruct Congress and flout the law, Donald Trump will leave the Congress with no choice but to initiate impeachment. That would be a tragedy, but a tragedy of his own making,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware.
Yet back in Baltimore, Biden courted his wealthy backers with boasts of early polls showing him purportedly beating Trump by 10 or more points.
“The reason I’m being attacked is most polls show me beating him by 10 to 15 points so I’m not at all surprised I’ve become the object of his affection and attention. The attacks on me, they’re going to come and they’re going to go and they’ll soon be forgotten,” he said.
Biden mentioned Trump “shredding the United States Constitution,” but only used it as more evidence as to why Democrats should rally behind his candidacy.
“He loves nicknames. I’d ike to give him a new nickname–former President Trump,” he added.
