Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III explained the bad optics that can come of a political family that appears to profit off public office amid the scandal facing the Bidens.
Kennedy, who hails from a political dynasty as the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, was asked on Sunday’s State of the Union how he felt about Hunter Biden holding down a high-paying board position for a corrupt Ukrainian natural gas firm while his father was leading policy in the region as vice president to President Barack Obama.
“I think it is certainly worth putting that out there and worth trying to make sure there is not any sort of profit that is going to be earned by close relatives being in office. And I have had plenty of family members in office. I understand the responsibility that comes with holding a position of public responsibility and ensuring there is a very clear delineation there so that others aren’t profiting off it,” Kennedy explained.
He added, “It is awfully hard for me to reconcile and to square those comments and that clarity put forth by Vice President Biden, by Hunter Biden, with the fact you have the current president’s children running around on an international hotel chain that is being supported by U.S. military service members staying at their hotels across the world, that is where they tried to host the G-7 at a struggling hotel in Florida, and where his daughter runs clothing lines and jewelry lines just got patents from China in the midst of a trade war.”
Kennedy claimed that everyone should be held to the “same standard” when it comes to families profiting from public office.
Much of President Trump’s impeachment has been based on his request to Ukrainian leaders to investigate the Bidens for potential corruption between the Obama administration and the natural gas firm Burisma, which paid Hunter Biden as much as $50,000 per month.
Kennedy, 39, has announced that he is running for Senate in Massachusetts. He will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Ed Markey in a primary on Sept. 1.
