A Republican congressman from Texas denounced President Trump for suggesting China should investigate his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter, arguing that Trump gave China leverage in trade negotiations.
“I think it’s terrible. It’s something that I wouldn’t have done,” Rep. Will Hurd told CNN’s New Day on Friday.
“China is an adversary. China right now has a million ethnic minorities, the Uighurs, basically in prison camps,” he said. “Also, we’re in a tight and complex trade negotiation with China now, and so you’re potentially giving them something to hold over your head.”
A day earlier, Trump told reporters from the White House that China should investigate the former vice president and his son. The comments came about a week after Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into a similar request Trump made in a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Hurd, a former undercover CIA officer and the only black Republican in the House, said in August he would not be running for reelection.
He said last month that the whistleblower complaint that detailed Trump’s interactions with Ukraine was “concerning.”
“We need to fully investigate all of the allegations addressed in the letter,” he said.
