Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Sunday said Hunter Biden’s planning to step down from the board of a Chinese-backed firm demonstrates the difference in standards relative to President Trump and potential conflicts of interest in the White House.
“I mean, here you have Hunter Biden stepping down from a position in order to make sure, even though there’s been no accusation of wrongdoing, doing something just to make sure there’s not even the appearance of a conflict of interest,” Mr. Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
An attorney for Hunter Biden announced Sunday that Mr. Biden, the son of former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, was stepping down from the board of a Chinese-backed firm and that he wouldn’t serve on the boards of foreign companies if his father is elected president.
CNN host Jake Tapper asked if the announcement was a tacit acknowledgment from Hunter Biden and/or the Biden campaign that there was at least an appearance of a conflict of interest issue there that was valid, in light of increasing questions about the younger Mr. Biden’s business ties in Ukraine and China.
But Mr. Buttigieg declined to take a shot at his 2020 Democratic presidential rival over the issue.
He called Mr. Trump a “walking conflict of interest,” pointing to adviser and presidential daughter Ivanka Trump’s benefitting from trademarks from the Chinese and adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner’s “texting” with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“While meanwhile, the president’s sons go around the world pretending like the fact that their father is the president of the United States has no impact on the international business dealings that they do,” Mr. Buttigieg said.
“We don’t even know whether Trump financial interest[s] in Turkey contributed to the decision to betray American allies and American values, and they want to talk about conflicts of interest - it is a radically different standard and we cannot allow this president to be able to change the subject, especially with unfounded allegations,” Mr. Buttigieg said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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