Joe Biden stuck up for his son, Hunter Biden, at Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, saying that both he and his son “did nothing wrong” as it relates to the younger Biden’s former work in Ukraine.
The answer came in response to a question from moderator Anderson Cooper, who asked why it was permissible for Hunter Biden to be involved with a foreign business while his father was vice-president.
“My son did nothing wrong,” said Biden, who pledged Sunday that if elected, no one from his family would hold a job with a foreign government or a foreign corporation. “I did nothing wrong. I carried out the policy of the United States government in rooting out corruption in Ukraine. That’s what we should be focusing on.”
Biden blamed “Rudy Giuliani, the president, and his thugs” for the attacks on his son. “I never discussed a single thing with my son about anything having to do with Ukraine. No one has indicated I have. We always kept everything separate.”
Biden added that Trump, who is facing impeachment over his attempts to have Ukraine help him smear his potential 2020 opponent, is targeting him “because he knows if I get the nomination, I will beat him like a drum.”
The former VP’s defense of his son comes on the same day that Hunter Biden gave his first interview on the subject of Ukraine. In a sit-down with ABC News, after weeks of laying low, Hunter addressed his time on the board of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, which paid him as much as $50,000 a month. Biden admitted in the interview that taking the position was “poor judgment on my part.”
“I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father,” he said. “That’s where I made the mistake. So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever.”
