Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota is placing blame on Hunter Biden and backing President Joe Biden in light of Speaker Kevin McCarthy directing the House to open an impeachment inquiry into the president.
“The evidence suggests Hunter Biden is guilty of unethical and/or illegal behavior,” Phillips said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “The evidence suggests Joe Biden is guilty of absolutely nothing more than being a father.”
Phillips’ comments display an indication that Democrats aren’t interested in defending Hunter Biden even as they back the president. McCarthy said Tuesday that he would be “directing” committees “to open a formal impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden” without a vote on the floor.
Phillips, a moderate Democrat, met with donors in July to talk about a possible primary run against Joe Biden. But last month Phillips said he had not yet decided whether he would launch a bid.
It’s unclear whether or not McCarthy has the majority support for the impeachment inquiry mostly due to centrists who are skeptical that the GOP has uncovered enough evidence to advance an impeachment vote, given that no direct link has emerged so far between Joe Biden and the overseas business dealings of Hunter Biden.
House GOP probes have so far revealed that Hunter Biden traded on his family name during his business dealings. But the party has struggled to find key evidence that shows wrongdoing by Joe Biden, or that his actions as vice president or president were influenced by his family members.
A recent CNN poll showed that 55 percent of Americans surveyed think the president was involved in his son’s business dealings with Ukraine and China while he served as vice president, with one-third of Democrats saying so.
