Biden on Trump impeachment defense in Senate: ‘I was embarrassed for the institution’

Former Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview on Wednesday that he was “embarrassed” for the Senate as an institution after listening to President Trump’s defense team on the first day of his impeachment hearing in the upper chamber. 

“I have a great respect and reverence for the Senate for real,” Biden told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I was there a long time, Joe, and I never saw anything quite like that.”  

“I have a great respect and reverence for the Senate for real. I was embarrassed for the institution. I was there for a long time and I never saw anything quite like that.” —@JoeBiden pic.twitter.com/RcHLguGG4g

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) January 22, 2020

Trump’s White House lawyers clashed with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) late Tuesday night after Nadler said that the president and Republicans were “afraid” to let former national security adviser John Bolton testify because “they know he knows so much.” 

White House legal counsel Pat Cipollone hit back at Nadler shortly after, accusing him of making false allegations. 

“You don’t deserve and we don’t deserve what just happened,” Cipollone said, addressing the senators. “The only one who should be embarrassed, Mr. Nadler, is you.”

The back-and-forth led Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial, to reprimand both sides. 

Roberts said they were “addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body” and that they should watch what they say.

“I do think those addressing the Senate should remember where they are,” Roberts said. 

The White House defense team and House impeachment managers were in the midst of debating a Democratic amendment to the rules resolution on Tuesday that sought to have Bolton testify. 

The measure was eventually rejected in a party-line vote.