Biden looks to Ukraine flap to jolt his 2020 presidential campaign

[webfact]

Biden looks to Ukraine flap to jolt his 2020 presidential campaign

By Ginger Gibson, James Oliphant and Tim Reid

 

FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden makes a statement during an event in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Bastiaan Slabbers

 

 

 

WASHINGTON/SAN MARINO, Calif. (Reuters) - Joe Biden, courting donors at a fundraiser in California on Thursday, began his remarks by reading directly from a whistleblower's complaint that President Donald Trump sought foreign interference in the 2020 election.

 

As Trump faces an impeachment inquiry over his demands that his Ukrainian counterpart investigate Biden, his top Democratic rival is striving to turn the growing political crisis to his advantage, raking in donations and taking to national television to make his case to voters that he is the Democrat best able to beat Trump next year.

 

A whistleblower report released on Thursday alleged that Trump not only abused his office in attempting to solicit Ukraine’s interference in next year's election for his own political benefit, but that the White House also tried to “lock down” evidence about that conduct.

 

Trump has denied wrongdoing.

 

"This isn’t about me," Biden told a few dozen guests gathered by a backyard swimming pool to hear the candidate at the fundraiser in San Marino, California.

 

"It’s a tactic that’s used by this president to try to hijack an election so we do not focus on the issues that matter in our lives."

 

The Ukraine flap comes at a crucial moment for the former vice president.

 

The Democratic favourite throughout much of the race, Biden has seen his support erode in recent weeks, with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren emerging as the candidate with the greatest momentum and drawing close to Biden in several national polls.

 

Trump has repeatedly insisted, without evidence, that Biden used his influence as vice president to kill an investigation of a Ukrainian energy company of which his son Hunter was a board member.

 

The controversy has allowed Biden to portray himself as Trump’s top target, bolstering his long-standing argument that he is the candidate the president fears most.

 

“Trump is afraid of facing Joe next fall,” one text sent to supporters read. “Chip in now to defend Joe Biden.”

 

The campaign enjoyed its best week of fundraising since early in the race, aides said, without providing specific figures.

 

“The reason I am being attacked is that most polls show me beating him by 10 to 15 points,” Biden told a crowd at another fundraiser in Baltimore earlier this week. “I am not at all surprised I have become the object of his affection and attention.”

 

A day earlier, Biden had delivered a blistering indictment of Trump in a nationally televised speech and he appeared on Wednesday on a late-night network talk show. For the moment, at least, Warren and the other 17 candidates running for the Democratic nomination have been rendered afterthoughts.

 

Biden's calendar has been packed with previously scheduled fundraising events all week. On Friday, he will hold a campaign event in the early primary state of Nevada.

 

Rick Tyler, a Republican strategist who worked for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign, said Trump’s outreach to Ukraine “reinforces Biden’s strongest underlying message, which is that he is the only candidate who can beat Donald Trump and even Donald Trump thinks so – and the lengths Trump will go to eliminate him now because he sees him as the biggest threat.”

 

TOLL AND TRIAL

Trump and his allies have signalled, however, that they plan to continue accusing Biden of wrongdoing.

 

Trump has pushed that narrative this week even as the impeachment inquiry moves forward, and a pro-Trump group, Great America PAC, is backing it up with an ad blitz.

 

“This is a Joe Biden scandal that Democrats and their media allies are trying to remake into a Donald Trump problem,” said Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump re-election campaign.

 

The focus on Ukraine and Biden could take a toll on the Biden campaign, said Rodell Mollineau, a former Democratic top aide to U.S. Senate leadership.

 

“It looks like his numbers were sliding a bit before, and I don’t think this helps,” Mollineau said. “And because he’s in a primary, he doesn’t have the whole Democratic machine rallying to his defence.”

 

Since Biden entered the race in April, Trump routinely has derided him as “sleepy” and “not very bright” and publicly dismissed him as a threat.

 

But Trump’s campaign has long viewed Biden as a danger because of his capacity to attract the kind of union and working-class voters in the Midwest who also are drawn to Trump. It has sought to weaken his candidacy at several turns, with the president’s phone call with Ukraine only the most recent example.

 

The campaign realized early on that with his moderate voting record, it would be harder to paint Biden as a “socialist” in the manner of Warren or U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a Republican strategist close to the Trump campaign said.

 

Instead, it has gone after issues such as trade with China and Biden's foreign policy record as No. 2 to former President Barack Obama.

 

The Ukraine matter is yet more evidence that Biden remains the opponent that Trump would still rather avoid, Biden's campaign said.

 

“It’s so transparent,” one Biden aide told Reuters, “it’s laughable.”

 

(Reporting by Ginger Gibson and James Oliphant in Washington and Tim Reid in California; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-27

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[Tug]

A good steady experienced hand at the helm is exactly what we need right now as we evolve into a more for the people (all the people) nation I’m in 

[daoyai]

The blow back from this should end any chance for him to be elected. He is so corrupt, why would his son be on a board of directors of a foreign company when he has virtually no experience in the field?  .... so corrupt,  hopefully this will bring down the likes of Maxine Waters and Rashida Talib also but their constituents are too stupid to vote them out.

[Lizard2010]

This is Trumps way of doing things

What will happen to the USA from now on

[Andrew65]

2 hours ago, daoyai said:

The blow back from this should end any chance for him to be elected. He is so corrupt, why would his son be on a board of directors of a foreign company when he has virtually no experience in the field?  .... so corrupt,  hopefully this will bring down the likes of Maxine Waters and Rashida Talib also but their constituents are too stupid to vote them out.

Trump has Kushner in a job in which he has no experience either.

 

Let's task a Jewish guy (with zero experience in diplomacy) with sorting out peace in the Middle East, he's bound to be totally unbiased and successful?!

Edited September 27, 2019 by Andrew65

[Boon Mee]

Jolt his campaign? 

555

Love how Trump set up the trap these people fell into! 

[Baerboxer]

5 hours ago, Tug said:

A good steady experienced hand at the helm is exactly what we need right now as we evolve into a more for the people (all the people) nation I’m in 

 

Biden - steady 5555555555555! He looks like he's got one foot in the grave. 

 

And of course his son was absolutely well qualified to be a director of that Ukraine company. Hope his tax affairs are in order!

 

Sad to say, the US is in the same boat as the UK. A somewhat oddball leader in office, loose cannons to put it mildly and by the looks of it nothing the opposition has likely to challenge them.

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Trump has Kushner in a job in which he has no experience either.

 

Let's task a Jewish guy (with zero experience in diplomacy) with sorting out peace in the Middle East, he's bound to be totally unbiased and successful?!

 

But, but, but, 

 

The old deflection game.

 

Of course the Ukrainians didn't give Biden junior a plumb highly paid directorship just because his dad was VPOTUS with hands on the reigns of vast amounts of aid. He was handpicked because of his skills, knowledge and experience! 

 

All the Democrat desperate clamor to impeach Trump and uncle Joe probably hopes this will all blow over as he plays the victim.

 

I doubt it will.

[DoctorG]

Warren and Sanders will be quietly happy to see Biden taking the knocks.

[candide]

4 hours ago, daoyai said:

The blow back from this should end any chance for him to be elected. He is so corrupt, why would his son be on a board of directors of a foreign company when he has virtually no experience in the field?  .... so corrupt,  hopefully this will bring down the likes of Maxine Waters and Rashida Talib also but their constituents are too stupid to vote them out.

I would not bet that Hunter is clean but he wasn't a newbie. He had accumulated about 15 years of experience in lobbying and investment. Of course he also had a name. The company, which had no international experience was obviously trying to acquire a network of international contacts as other recruitments also show.

[JemJem]

Biden is very much despised by the progressive/leftist Democrat folks. If he becomes the Dem. nominee, I wonder which feeling will be stronger when voting : their hatred for Biden, or their hatred for Trump ? ???? It is likely that many such people will not vote at all, unless there is a third option that they might go for then.

[Tug]

10 hours ago, daoyai said:

The blow back from this should end any chance for him to be elected. He is so corrupt, why would his son be on a board of directors of a foreign company when he has virtually no experience in the field?  .... so corrupt,  hopefully this will bring down the likes of Maxine Waters and Rashida Talib also but their constituents are too stupid to vote them out.

Nope don’t think so but maybe beeing an American helps me to understand many of us over here see this as criminal the way Donald try’s to rig the election to me looking at thease posts looks like desperation amongst the trump supporters this whole criminal smear is because Donald is scared of joe Biden with good reason joe is qualified and experienced 

[chokrai]

13 hours ago, Tug said:

A good steady experienced hand at the helm is exactly what we need right now as we evolve into a more for the people (all the people) nation I’m in 

He is dead just hasn't fallen over yet.

[BigA]

Ukraine hurts him, dirt came out on Biden over this. Warren is more likely to be the nominee, after this fiasco.

[Tug]

5 hours ago, chokrai said:

He is dead just hasn't fallen over yet.

Much like your hero lol 

[Kelsall]

Biden is now toast, the first casualty of the impeachment effort. 

 

Pure genius on Trump's part.  Released the transcript knowing he would take some flak, but Biden, the only Dem who had a chance of beating Trump, would be wiped out. 

 

BTW, Trump won't even be impeached, let alone removed from office.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/politics/house-democrats-impeachment/index.html

[Tug]

42 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Biden is now toast, the first casualty of the impeachment effort. 

 

Pure genius on Trump's part.  Released the transcript knowing he would take some flak, but Biden, the only Dem who had a chance of beating Trump, would be wiped out. 

 

BTW, Trump won't even be impeached, let alone removed from office.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/27/politics/house-democrats-impeachment/index.html

Ge wiz I dident know joe Biden is toast and I’m paying attention lol no I think old Donald is just beeing exposed for what he is lol

[soalbundy]

21 hours ago, Lizard2010 said:

This is Trumps way of doing things

What will happen to the USA from now on

Since the world seems to be going to hell in a basket I think it's possible that the last vestiges of IQ of the American voter will disappear and the orange horror will be re-elected, time for the rest of the world to turn towards China and Russia for trade deals and ignore America for the time being.

[Tug]

50 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Since the world seems to be going to hell in a basket I think it's possible that the last vestiges of IQ of the American voter will disappear and the orange horror will be re-elected, time for the rest of the world to turn towards China and Russia for trade deals and ignore America for the time being.

Naaaa don’t think so I think Donald will be like a foul smell it will pass and we will be back