Graham: ‘Stupid’ for Trump to ask China to investigate Biden

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said it was “stupid” for President Trump to ask China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. 

“As to asking China to look into Biden, that was stupid. Nobody believes that China would be fair to Biden, Trump, me or you, or anybody. Bad idea. That didn’t last very long,” Graham said in an interview with Axios released Sunday. 

“I think that’s a frustrated Trump who feels like there’s two different games, that people in [the media] are never gonna really sit down and talk to Hunter Biden unless it’s a softball interview,” Graham added. {mosads}

Graham’s comments came in response to fellow GOP Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) calling Trump’s actions “wrong and appalling,” according to Axios. 

“Well if you think the letter is impeachable, I mean the transcript, just say so. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. But did the president commit a crime on the phone call?” Graham said. 

Graham has defended the president, as have most members of his party, while Trump faces an impeachment inquiry launched by House Democrats over allegations that the president pressed Ukraine to investigate Biden.

A partial memo of a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shows Trump asking the foreign leader to investigate Biden, a 2020 White House hopeful, and his son. 

Trump later publicly asked China and Ukraine to investigate Biden when speaking to reporters. 

No evidence has emerged to suggest Biden acted inappropriately with regard to dealing with Ukraine as vice president while his son sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. Biden has repeatedly defended himself. 

Though Graham has continued to defend Trump amid the allegations and the impeachment inquiry, he has been separately critical of the president’s decision to pull troops out of northern Syria, where they were assisting Kurdish forces ahead of a Turkish attack.