Joe Biden said he believes impeachment proceedings against President Trump could deeply damage the country.
“I’ve been through two impeachment proceedings as a United States senator. They’re not good for the nation in the sense that they’re not helpful,” the former vice president said Tuesday afternoon on MSNBC.
Nevertheless, he added that the proceedings are a necessary evil. “They are distractions. But they are obligations. It’s a constitutional obligation. There’s no way around it.”
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell asked Biden, 76, if he believed that impeachment proceedings could damage his candidacy, considering both he and his son, Hunter Biden, 49, are central components of a whistleblower’s complaint that Trump tried pressuring the Ukrainian president into investigating the Biden family in exchange for military aid.
“No matter what it does to the 2020 election, it’s a requirement, constitutionally, to take a look at this,” Biden said. Trump “has no credibility at all. To let it go uninvestigated, it’s a constitutional issue,” Biden continued.
Surveys conducted this month show Biden in a tight battle with Elizabeth Warren for first place in the Democratic primary. A RealClearPolitics average of nationwide primary polls shows Biden leading the Massachusetts senator by just over 5 points.
On Monday night, Biden told donors in Florida that he believed Trump shouldn’t be impeached “if it can be avoided.”
“We have to preserve our Constitution, our democracy,” Biden said. “I don’t take impeachment lightly. I’ve been there for two. I don’t think it’s anything a country should have to go through if it can be avoided.”
Biden’s remarks Monday came the same day as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in a letter that Congress would vote on impeachment proceedings against Trump.
