After initially urging restraint, Democratic 2020 candidate Joe Biden has joined the majority of the Democratic primary field in calling for President Trump’s impeachment, telling the crowd during a campaign speech on Wednesday that Trump has “already convicted himself.”
“In full view of the world and the American people, Donald Trump has violated his oath of office, betrayed this nation, and committed impeachable acts,” the former vice president said during a campaign stop in Rochester, New Hampshire.
“He should be impeached,” Biden said to applause.
Biden previously declined to call for impeachment directly, despite being caught in the crosshairs of House Democrats’ formal impeachment probe, which was prompted by Trump’s attempts to have Ukraine investigate Biden and his son over the younger Biden’s business dealings.
Democrats launched a formal impeachment probe against the president after a transcript of Trump’s July phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky showed Trump had asked Zelensky to investigate Biden’s son, Hunter, over allegations that the former vice president used his position to help a Ukrainian energy company avoid a corruption probe soon after Hunter was appointed to its board.
Last month, Biden said that if Trump withholds information from Congress that lawmakers have requested regarding the impeachment probe he will “leave Congress in my view no choice but to initiate impeachment.”
The White House on Tuesday effectively said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the chairmen of three Democratic committees that the Trump administration does not intend to cooperate with the “unconstitutional” impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
“But we have to remember impeachment isn’t only about what the president has done. It’s about the threat the president poses to the nation,” Biden added.
“Donald Trump will do anything to get reelected, including violating the most basic forms of democracy,” Biden said, calling the president’s behavior “stunning” and “dangerous.”
“This is not hyperbole,” Biden assured.
“No president in American history has ever dared to engage in such unimaginable behavior,” Biden continued. “With his words and his actions, President Trump has indicted himself. By obstructing justice, refusing to comply with the congressional inquiry, he’s already convicted himself.”