DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Tuesday said it’s “irrelevant” whether it would be harder to run against President Trump if the GOP-led Senate ends up acquitting the president in an upcoming impeachment trial.
“There’s no choice but for Nancy Pelosi and the House to move,” Mr. Biden said at the seventh Democratic presidential debate. “He has, in fact, committed impeachable offenses.”
“Whether the Senate makes that judgment or not it’s for them to decide,” he said.
He acknowledged that it could be difficult to unite the country after the trial.
“I understand how these guys are, this Republican party - they’ve gone after, savaged my surviving son, gone after me,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter whether or not he’s gone after me…I can’t hold a grudge. I have to be able to not only fight, but also heal.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said she’s not worried that Mr. Trump could be “emboldened” by a Senate acquittal.
“We have a constitutional duty to perform here,” Ms. Klobuchar said.
She said if her GOP colleagues don’t allow a sufficient number of witnesses, “they may as well give the president a crown and a scepter - they may as well make him king.”
“This is a decency check on our government - this is a patriotism check,” she said.
The House is preparing to vote this week to send articles of impeachment to the Senate after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to hold back for several weeks.
House Democrats accused Mr. Trump of abusing his power and obstructing Congress in pressing Ukraine to launch investigations into Mr. Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as into the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Mr. Trump has denied wrongdoing.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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