Biden vows to beat Trump ‘like a drum’ in 2020 election

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Saturday voiced outrage over what he called President Trump’s persistent efforts to “destroy” him and his family, vowing to beat the president “like a drum” in the 2020 election. 

“Enough is enough,” Biden wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. “Every day — every few hours, seemingly — more evidence is uncovered revealing that President Trump is abusing the power of the presidency and is wholly unfit to be president. He is using the highest office in the land to advance his personal political interests instead of the national interest.”

The former vice president rebuked Trump over public comments calling for Ukraine and China to investigate Biden and his son over unfounded allegations of corruption. Biden argued that Trump’s new push shows that “he considers the presidency a free pass to do whatever he wants, with no accountability.”

“Our first president, George Washington, famously could not tell a lie. President Trump seemingly cannot tell the truth — about anything,” he wrote. “He slanders anyone he sees as a threat. That is why is he is frantically pushing flat-out lies, debunked conspiracy theories and smears against me and my family, no doubt hoping to undermine my candidacy for the presidency.”

“This time, it won’t work, because the American people know me — and they know him,” Biden added before promising to put his decorated history of public service up against Trump’s “lack of integrity.”

He later argued that the defining trait of Trump’s presidency is the “abuse of power” through attempts to extract political favors from foreign nations. 

The op-ed came in light of a wave of revelations regarding Trump’s interactions with Ukraine that have prompted a formal impeachment inquiry in the House. A whistleblower complaint from an intelligence community official accused Trump of enlisting Ukraine’s help in his 2020 reelection efforts. 

A White House memo of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the president asked the foreign leader to work with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr to investigate the Biden family. 

Trump and his campaign have continued their efforts to portray Biden as corrupt amid the revelations. Speaking to reporters last Thursday, Trump called on both Ukraine and China to investigate the 2020 presidential candidate. 

“To Trump and those who facilitate his abuses of power, and all the special interests funding his attacks against me: Please know that I’m not going anywhere,” Joe Biden concluded in his op-ed in the Post. “You won’t destroy me, and you won’t destroy my family. And come November 2020, I intend to beat you like a drum.”