George Stephanopoulos questioned Joe Biden after he claimed that President Trump’s impeachment was not partisan.
In President Bill Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial, then-Sen. Biden said that “it would be wrong” for the Senate to convict the president based on a “purely partisan impeachment.” However, Biden supports the impeachment of Trump despite the partisan vote that took place in the House.
During an interview on Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos asked Biden how he justifies holding those two positions. Biden responded by claiming that Trump’s impeachment was “not a partisan impeachment.”
Stephanopoulos responded, “Only Democrats voted for it in the House. And one independent.”
“Well, that doesn’t mean that the facts, the underlying facts, George, whether the Constitution has been violated,” Biden answered. “That’s the issue. Was the Constitution violated?”
Stephanopoulos continued to press Biden, asking, “Even if it’s a party-line vote?”
Biden doubled down, “Even if it’s a party-line vote, it just reflects on those who know, in fact, in their heart, in their head, that in fact it’s a violation of the Constitution to do what he did. And, in fact, vote no. That’s a party-line vote, but that doesn’t make it right. A party-line vote that is based upon something that doesn’t relate to a constitutional violation is a different thing.”
Only Democrats and independent Rep. Justin Amash voted to impeach Trump. Three Democrats voted with Republicans on at least one article of impeachment, including New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who switched political parties to become a Republican after the vote.
Beyond claiming that impeachment should not happen on a partisan vote, Biden also said that he didn’t think a Senate trial needed witnesses to be a “full trial” in 1999. Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, have been floated as potential witnesses for the impeachment trial, but Republicans likely secured enough votes to move forward without witnesses after Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander announced he would vote with his party.
Biden, 77, has been running to be the Democratic nominee for president. He currently leads the pack of Democrats according to the RealClearPolitics national polling average, but he trails Sen. Bernie Sanders in polling averages in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
