Following a speech with at the United Food and Commercial Workers (UCWF) presidential forum in Altoona, Iowa, on Sunday, former Vice President Joe Biden addressed the news that his son, Hunter, decided to step down from the the board of BKR, a Chinese private equity firm.
Biden reiterated the position he's had all along, that nothing illegal took place and that the Bidens never discussed business.
“Have any consequence that anything was done wrong or illegally by me or by my son [Hunter]. Every major national, international and local news operation has looked into [and] it has said it’s a lie," he told reporters outside the forum. "This is a president flat lying, number one. Number two, the statement my son put out today, which I saw when he put it out, I was told there was one being put out. I did not consult with him about what was being put out, in fact represents the kind of man of integrity he is and what in fact he has done and why he stepped down."
The former vice president also mirrored his son's statement from earlier in the day, saying no one around him would have any business involvement in foreign operations. It was part of the promise Hunter made, should his dad win the presidency next year. Interestingly enough, Biden seems to believe he can build upon the so-called "squeaky clean transparent environment" that existed during the Obama administration.
"And I can tell you now, if I am your president, next president, I’m going to build on the squeaky clean transparent environment we had in the Obama-Biden White House and no one in my family or associated with me will be involved in any foreign operation whatsoever. Period. End of story," the 2020 candidate said.
Where was Joe Biden during the Obama years? Was he unaware of the scandals that plagued the Obama administration or is he simply trying to forget them?
In case you need a reminder, Uncle Joe, here are a couple not-so-squeaky-clean instances you should really re-examine:
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email scandal, where she was using a private server and email address to conduct State Department business.
• Operation Fast and Furious, where the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed guns to walk across the border into Mexico, never to be seen again. One of those firearms killed Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. And it was 100 percent preventable.
• Attorney General Eric Holder pretending like he had absolutely no idea that Operation Fast and Furious was taking place.
• The 2012 attack in Benghazi, where U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and CIA contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty died. Their compound in Benghazi was attacked and no military aid was sent their way. Clinton came out and blamed the attack on a video.
• The IRS targeting conservative groups, like the Tea Party.
If Biden wants to continue this "squeaky clean transparent" type of leadership, that should really worry Americans, regardless of their political affiliation.