Being formally targeted by congressional impeachment proceedings was certainly not on Joe Biden’s Christmas list — but the Republicans’ decision could ultimately be a political gift for the Democrat, campaigning for re-election.
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The US president, 81, is in the sights of Republicans in the House of Representatives for his alleged role in his son’s controversial affairs abroad.
But Joe Biden responded immediately, with a message that he wants clear: all this is just political theater put on by a vengeful opposition. And the president is even using it as an argument to raise funds in his upcoming race against Donald Trump.
“No president wants to be indicted” in Congress, recalls Todd Belt, political scientist. But “in reality, politically, it’s more of a gift for Joe Biden,” analyzes this professor at George Washington University.
In its reaction to the Republican vote on Wednesday, the White House “quickly turned to the economy and the fact that this Congress has done little and is obsessed with political revenge for the benefit of Donald Trump,” he adds.
“Lucky”
The Republicans have so far not provided proof of the president’s involvement. And even if Joe Biden were to be formally impeached by the House, a conviction in the Senate, with a Democratic majority, is extremely unlikely.
The interest, for the Republicans, is that of a political and media platform of primary importance, a few weeks before the first Republican primaries – and the trials of Donald Trump.
The former president, who far surpasses his rivals in the race for the Republican Party nomination, also dominates Joe Biden in the most recent polls.
He who is pushing for this impeachment procedure against Joe Biden declared Thursday that he had “never had the luxury” of a real investigation during the two procedures which targeted him. “Biden is lucky to have an investigation, and he is TOTALLY GUILTY,” he wrote.
Donald Trump, indicted, had sold mugs and t-shirts with his famous mug shot while denouncing a political witch hunt. The Biden camp called on him to donate funds – from $5 – to finance his campaign in an email denouncing the impeachment procedure, a success according to the American media.
“Tensions”
Joe Biden brushed aside the Republicans’ accusations about the impeachment procedure to better point out the inability of Congress to agree on aid to Ukraine or the budget, notes political scientist Todd Belt.
“If this continues throughout this election cycle, all the president has to do is point to Capitol Hill and say ‘look what they’re doing up there,'” he said. .
Hunter Biden, long supported by his president father, for his part seems to have changed his defense strategy, after years of preferring discretion.
The 53-year-old man, facing two indictments, held a rare press conference in Washington on Wednesday to clear his father of any involvement in his controversial affairs, attacking “the Trumpists” for trying to “dehumanize” him. “.
A riskier strategy having “caused tensions” with the White House which would prefer a more cautious approach, reports the American media Axios.
From the Oval Office, Joe Biden can reassure himself with a few historical elements: no impeachment procedure has succeeded in effectively ending the presidential mandate. In 1974, Richard Nixon, surrounded, resigned before facing impeachment.
But the procedure itself can be costly: If the presidency refuses to hand over documents, citing the executive’s right to secrecy, Republicans could become outraged, arguing that the Biden camp has something to hide. And then, a surprise is always possible.
“Perhaps the investigation could reveal something. We don’t know anything about it,” summarizes Todd Belt.
