Sen. Lindsey Graham thinks it was a “stupid” move for President Trump to ask China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
In a Sunday Axios HBO interview, the South Carolina Republican declined to call Trump’s request an impeachable action but nonetheless joined a handful of Senate Republicans in admonishing the president.
“As to asking China to look into Biden, that was stupid,” he said. “Nobody believes that China would be fair to Biden, Trump, me or you, or anybody. Bad idea. That didn’t last very long. I think that’s a frustrated Trump who feels like there’s two different games, that people in [the media] are never gonna really sit down and talk to Hunter Biden unless it’s a softball interview.”
Soon after House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump over his July 25 phone call with the president of Ukraine, during which he pressed the foreign leader to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, the president recommended that China investigate the Bidens as well.
“Well, I would think that, if they were honest about it, they’d start a major investigation into the Bidens,” Trump told reporters after being asked what he hoped Ukraine would do. “It’s a very simple answer. They should investigate the Bidens because how does a company that’s newly formed and all these companies, if you look at — and by the way, likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens.”
The comment drew backlash from both Democrats and some Republicans, including Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Ted Cruz of Texas, Susan Collins of Maine, and GOP Rep. Will Hurd.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden for his son’s business dealings in Ukraine while he was still vice president, but there has been no evidence of wrongdoing by either Biden. The younger Biden also has connections to Patrick Ho, a high-ranking Chinese businessman who was charged by the Justice Department with global corruption and bribery in 2017.
