Trump mentioned Biden, Warren in June call with Chinese president: report

President Trump mentioned Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on a June call with China’s president Xi Jinping, CNN reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the conversation.

The outlet reported that Trump mentioned Biden and Warren’s “political prospects” during the call. Both Democrats have been near the top of polls for their party’s 2020 nomination.

Trump reportedly told Xi during the conversation that he would stay quiet about protests in Hong Kong while the U.S. and China pursued trade negotiations.{mosads}

The record of the call was stored in a secure electronic system where his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also kept, CNN reported.

Warren responded to the report Thursday night, tweeting that “the public must see the transcript of Trump’s call with Xi. And we need a leader who will stand up for our values.”

“Trump can say what he wants about me, but it’s outrageous that any president would sell out the people of Hong Kong behind closed doors,” she wrote.

Trump can say what he wants about me, but it’s outrageous that any president would sell out the people of Hong Kong behind closed doors.

The public must see the transcript of Trump’s call with Xi. And we need a leader who will stand up for our values.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) October 3, 2019

The Hill has reached out to the White House, as well as Biden’s campaign, for comment.  

Trump on Thursday publicly encouraged China and Ukraine to look into Biden, similar action that prompted House Democrats to formally launch an impeachment inquiry.

“China should start an investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said before heading to Florida for an executive order signing, adding that Ukraine should also look into the Bidens.

Biden’s campaign slammed Trump’s comments in a statement, calling them “a grotesque choice of lies over truth and self over country.”

The news of Trump reportedly mentioning his political rivals in a call with the Chinese leader follows days of intense scrutiny over Trump’s July 25 call with Zelensky, where he urged the Ukrainian leader to open an investigation into Biden.

Trump and his allies have been pursuing unproven corruption allegations against Biden and his son Hunter involving a prosecutor in Ukraine who was looking into a Ukrainian energy company. No evidence of wrongdoing has emerged on the part of either Biden.

“Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it… It sounds horrible to me,” Trump was quoted as telling the Ukrainian president in a summary of their July call released by the White House last week.