Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:32 pm
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said that Trump was kidding when he asked China to investigate Joe Biden on national television earlier this week.
Transcript via ABC’s This Week:
STEPHANOPOULOS: — today. Threshold question. Do you think it’s appropriate for President Trump to ask China and Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden?
JORDAN: George, you really think he was serious about thinking that China’s going to investigate the Biden family?
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STEPHANOPOULOS: He said it right there in public.
JORDAN: I think — I think — I think he’s getting — as I think Senator Rubio said a couple days ago. I think he’s getting the press all spun up about this. Remember, this is the president who’s been tougher on China than any other president. He wants to make sure China quits stealing America’s intellectual property. He wants to make sure they start abiding by international trade norms. And — tougher than anyone —
STEPHANOPOULOS: He said directly —
JORDAN: He’s — he’s put tariffs on China. And — and you really think he says — oh — the same guy who’s been tougher on China now thinks, oh, China’s going to investigate the — he was just making a statement to just underscore how wrong it is what took place here with — with Hunter Biden getting these — these deals that he got. That’s all he’s doing.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So the president asked China to investigate. We’re not supposed to take the president at his word?
JORDAN: Again, I think — I think Senator — Senator Rubio said it best. This is — this is the — you guys would think after three and a half years, you would — with the campaign and everything else, you’d figure out some other way (ph) —
Video:
Asked multiple times, Rep. Jim Jordan refuses to answer @gstephanopoulos on whether it was appropriate for Pres. Trump to ask China to investigate former VP Joe Biden, adding: "I don't think that's what he did." https://t.co/hAiJjff7oQ pic.twitter.com/PINpb4mcNU
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 6, 2019
What president hasn’t joked about a foreign government investigating their political opponents during a presidential election?
Trump wasn’t kidding. Beneath Rep. Jordan’s bluster is the reality that he never answered the original question about whether it was appropriate for Trump to be soliciting help from foreign governments.
The country has entered the phase of this scandal where Republicans can’t defend Trump, so they are claiming that he didn’t really mean the horrible thing that he said/did.
Republicans are never going to stand up to Trump. No matter how criminal he gets, people like Jim Jordan will continue to excuse and enable this president.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
