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Donald Trump makes serious accusations against his successor - and talks himself into a rage.
Joe Biden's spokesman accuses the Republican of "revenge and retaliation."
Washington, DC - Just a day after Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, former US President Donald Trump has reiterated his call for the impeachment of US President Joe Biden.
At a rally Wednesday night (Feb. 14) in North Charleston, South Carolina, Trump said Biden should be charged with "weaponizing" the Justice Department, a reference to the former president's criminal cases.
Special Counsel Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland have said Smith's charging decisions were made independently of the White House and in accordance with Justice Department regulations.
Trump rails again against “corrupt Joe Biden”
“Congress should impeach the corrupt Joe Biden for attacking his political opponent by using the Justice Department, the FBI and even local prosecutors and attorneys general against his political opponent,” Trump said.
“They should impeach him because that is the most undemocratic thing you can do.
This sort of thing happens in some countries, but not in our country.”
Trump's comments marked the second time in less than 24 hours that the former president has called for Biden's impeachment.
Trump, the Republican front-runner, faces a total of 91 charges in four criminal cases and has repeatedly tried, without evidence, to portray himself as a victim of a weaponized legal system.
Although House Republicans initiated impeachment proceedings against Biden last year, it is not related to Trump's legal proceedings.
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The Trump campaign's strategy is to refute the allegations against the former president with similar allegations against Biden.
Trump has also framed Biden's impeachment as a way to get revenge for his two impeachments.
As president, Trump was impeached twice.
He was first charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for trying to withhold military aid to Ukraine and pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden, then the vice president.
He was again charged with incitement of insurrection following the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The Senate acquitted Trump both times.
Several Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump's demands against Biden
Wednesday's statement came after House Republicans impeached Mayorkas by a single vote on Tuesday after failing to do so last week.
However, that process may not go far in the Democratic-led Senate, as some Senate Republicans have signaled that they do not believe the Homeland Security secretary's actions qualify as "high crimes and misdemeanors," the threshold for conviction.
Mayorkas is the first sitting Cabinet secretary to be impeached.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Charleston, S.C., on Wednesday.
© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
Then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy (Republican, California) initiated impeachment proceedings against Biden in the fall, which, among other things, addressed the question of whether the president benefited from the business dealings of his son Hunter Biden.
However, Republicans in the House of Representatives have not yet presented evidence that Biden benefited directly from these deals.
In December, Republican lawmakers formally approved impeachment proceedings against the president, hoping their subpoena requests could hold up in court without Democratic support.
But several Republicans in the House of Representatives are beginning to distance themselves from impeaching the president, saying voters should decide at the ballot box whether he should remain in office.
Vulnerable incumbents in particular do not want to vote on such a politically controversial issue.
Trump angry: Biden “should be impeached”
Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, said: “Tonight, Donald Trump confirmed that House Republicans are acting as an arm of his campaign and doing his bidding with their baseless impeachment inquiry.
Trump is campaigning like a dictator - focused on revenge and retaliation, while President Biden is focused on how to finish the job and provide for American families.”
Trump's comments in North Charleston came after he made similar accusations against Biden on Truth Social: “THE HUR REPORT SHOWS THAT VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING JOE BIDEN SAID WAS A LIE.
ALSO, HE HAS ILLEGALLY DEPLOYED THE DOJ & FBI ALONG WITH THE LOCAL PROSECUTORS & ATTORNEYS GENERAL AGAINST HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME!” Trump posted.
“NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED IN THE USA AND HE SHOULD BE CHARGED FOR IT!”
Trump has sought to make political capital out of special counsel Robert K. Hur's recent report.
This concluded that Biden was negligent in keeping secret documents and notebooks in his home, but found that the evidence was insufficient to charge him with a crime.
In that report, Hur drew a distinction between Trump's and Biden's handling of classified information, noting that "after being given multiple opportunities to return classified information and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite."
Trump's speech in South Carolina comes as the US primaries on February 24 approach.
The former president remains well ahead of former UN ambassador and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in the South Carolina polls.
Isaac Arnsdorf and Marianna Sotomayor contributed to this report.
About the author
Marianne LeVine
is a national politics reporter for The Washington Post.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on February 15, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.