The first Republican presidential debate is fast approaching on August 23rd, where candidates will hope to close the gap with former President Donald Trump and separate from the rest of the pack. In this series, Up For Debate, the Washington Examiner will look at a key issue or policy every day up until debate day, and where key candidates stand. Today’s story will examine where the 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls stand on impeaching President Joe Biden.
Conservative House Republicans on Capitol Hill, including House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have contemplated bringing impeachment articles against President Joe Biden and his family, mainly due to his son Hunter Biden‘s business interactions while he served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company.
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“We’ve only followed where the information has taken us. But Hannity, this is rising to the level of impeachment inquiry, which provides Congress the strongest power to get the rest of the knowledge and information needed,” McCarthy told Fox News’s Sean Hannity late last month.
Republican members of the House Oversight Committee suggested that an impeachment inquiry was necessary after Devon Archer, a business associate of Hunter Biden, testified behind closed doors with the committee.
But the movement has divided more moderate Republicans who represent districts that Biden won and would face tough reelection bids in 2024 if impeachment charges were brought up, threatening the Republican House majority.
Senate GOP members have signaled they have less of an appetite for impeachment. “Staying focused on the future and not the past is in my view the best way to change the direction of the country and that’s to win an election,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-SD) said.
Some of the Republicans running for president have not hesitated, however, to support the more conservative wing of their party in moving to impeach Biden.
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Donald Trump
The former president has often called for the impeachment of Joe Biden as he faces his own legal problems with the Department of Justice, including three indictments and the possibility of another indictment before Labor Day. Trump has been indicted three times this year, first for an alleged hush money payment scheme to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election and then again over allegations he mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House. Special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the subsequent Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigation. Trump also faces possible indictments in Georgia over allegations he sought to overturn the Peach State’s 2020 election results.
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump has often complained about the two-tier justice system between Republicans and Democrats. “SO, THEY IMPEACH ME OVER A “PERFECT” PHONE CALL, AND THEY DON’T IMPEACH BIDEN FOR BEING THE MOST CORRUPT PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES???” he wrote in late July.
At a speech in Eerie, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, he slammed Republicans for not bringing impeachment charges against Biden, suggesting he could endorse primary challengers against Republicans who do not favor impeachment. “The radical lunatic Democrats, they impeach me, they indict me, they rig our elections. And the Republicans just don’t fight the way — they’re good people, but they don’t fight the way they’re supposed to fight,” Trump said.
“Any Republican that doesn’t act on Democrat fraud should be immediately primaried and get out,” Trump added, to loud applause.
Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University, said that Trump calling for Biden to be impeached is in line with his past strategy of deflection.
“His pressure on the House to impeach Biden is absolutely consistent with his double strategy of throwing everything possible at the wall to see what sticks and to divert attention from his own problems,” Dallek said.
Ron DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Trump’s top rival in the 2024 race, has often dithered on questions about Trump’s legal problems. Often DeSantis will excoriate the “weaponization” of the Justice Department and the FBI as he did after Trump was indicted for a third time. But when it comes to impeaching Biden, DeSantis is unequivocal.
“They impeached Donald Trump for a phone call. Are you trying to tell me Biden’s conduct isn’t as significant as that? It’s way more significant,” DeSantis told Fox News’s Jesse Waters. “So they are absolutely within their rights to do that.
“I think the corruption that’s surrounding this family is really unprecedented in the modern history of our country and the lack of interest on this from the FBI and the Department of Justice, it shows you weaponization,” he continued.
NEW: Gov. Ron DeSantis calls for impeachment of President Joe Biden
“They impeached Trump for a phone call! Are you trying to tell me Biden’s conduct isn’t as significant as that? It’s way more significant.” pic.twitter.com/cVUkbvKSnd
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) July 26, 2023
The Florida governor again reiterated his call to impeach Biden in an interview with Newsmax.
“And the inquiry into Biden, I think that they should pursue that,” DeSantis said. “The corruption is just incredible with what’s happened there.”
Nikki Haley
Former South Carolina governor and United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said McCarthy and congressional leaders were within their rights to investigate the Biden family’s business interactions.
“I think that you’ve got Congress oversight for a reason. And I think that they need to go and look at the evidence,” Haley told Fox News last month. “I think Congress would be within their, you know, their right to go and have that oversight and ask the questions on behalf of the American people. Whether this is a Republican or Democrat president, we should want to know what happened, and no one should be above the law on this.”
Haley has also called out the “double standards” between Trump and Hunter Biden and stated that she would “gut” the Department of Justice’s senior management. “You’ve got to go back to the mission of what that agency is and we’ve gotta get to where people feel the government works for them and they don’t feel that they’re working for government,” Haley said.
Chris Christie
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of Trump’s fiercest critics on the campaign trail, has slammed Trump’s actions leading to his multiple indictments. Yet he too has called for an investigation into the Biden family.
“I’ve seen enough. We need a special counsel who has jurisdiction over any and all Biden family investigations. This is a charade,” he wrote on Twitter. “Get rid of US Attorney Weiss & appoint a special counsel who will investigate with competence and independence.”
I’ve seen enough. We need a special counsel who has jurisdiction over any and all Biden family investigations.
This is a charade. Get rid of US Attorney Weiss & appoint a special counsel who will investigate with competence and independence.
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) July 26, 2023
Mike Pence
Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence has previously slammed the Justice Department’s credibility over its treatment of Trump. A Pence adviser told the Washington Examiner that impeachment of Biden is certainly worth exploring, and the candidate has full faith in McCarthy and House Republicans to make the right decision.
Yet, after Trump was indicted a third time, Pence has become more vocal in his criticism of Trump. “Our country is more important than one man. Our Constitution is more important than any one man’s career,” Pence said in a statement.
Others
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has exercised a more cautious approach compared to his 2024 rivals. “While the whistleblower allegations are serious and must be investigated, impeachment should not be an option until the investigation shows corrupt action by the president,” Hutchinson said at the end of June about impeaching Biden. “Impeachment should not be used as a political weapon, but reserved for serious wrongdoing. The facts should determine what action, if any, Congress should take and impeachment should not precede a thorough investigation.”
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Vivek Ramaswamy responded to Trump’s latest indictment from Smith by filing a lawsuit against the Department of Justice and filing another Freedom of Information Act request seeking information on communications between Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Smith regarding Trump’s legal prosecutions.
“Tell the truth. Biden, Garland tell us the truth about what you actually told Jack Smith,” he said.
The reason the people don’t trust the government is that the government doesn’t trust the people. I’m here at the courthouse where Trump will be arraigned later today & I’m making a demand to our government: tell us the truth about what’s really driving this flurry of… pic.twitter.com/Ro6SRzy7qC
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 3, 2023
“Is this a politicized persecution through prosecution? I certainly believe it is. But it’s the government’s job to be transparent about exactly who told who what to bring about these prosecutions. Because the fact that they’re arising at the same time is no accident,” Ramaswamy added. “And I think it’s best that the government now be transparent with the people about what their intentions actually are. Without that transparency, we can only expect far worse in the future.”
