Joe Biden has been inundated with questions about his youngest son’s business connections in Ukraine and China. He has retaliated by making comments against Trump’s family working in the White House during a recent interview. The former vice president believes that Trump’s children are not qualified to be in their current White House positions.
O'Donnell asked if Trump’s children have adequately acted to avoid a conflict of interest.
“Look, I wasn’t raised to go after the children. Their actions speak for themselves. I can just tell you this, that if I’m president, get elected president, my children are not gonna have offices in the White House. My children are not gonna sit in on cabinet meetings,” Biden said.
O'Donnell asked how it was improper.
“It’s just simply improper because you should make it clear to the American public that everything you’re doing is for them. For them! And the idea that you’re gonna have—go to the extent that he has gone to have our, you know—his—his children, his son-in-law, et cetera, engaged in the day-to-day operation of things they know nothing about,” Biden said.
“You don’t think that Jared Kushner should be negotiating a Middle East peace solution?” O'Donnell asked.
“No, I don’t,” Biden said. “What credentials does he bring to that?”
He continued by saying he learns as much as he can about the task assigned to him. He speaks with experts and stays focused on getting results, just as his business background has taught him.
According to the White House, Kushner is the “President’s point-person on numerous domestic and foreign policy issues. He is the senior Administration official in charge of the Middle East Peace Process and managing U.S. relations with our Arab allies. Kushner also heads the White House Office of Innovation, tasked with providing the Administration with recommendations on how to efficiently reorganize the U.S. government per Trump’s proposed budget cuts.”
Brad Parscale, Trump 2020 campaign manager, responded that Biden was wrong.
“Joe Biden is correct on one point: Hunter Biden would never have an office in the White House because he’s proven that his only qualification is being the son of Joe Biden. Jared Kushner, meanwhile, paved the way for landmark criminal justice reform while Joe Biden authored the notorious Clinton Crime Bill,” Parscale said in response to Biden’s “60 Minute” comments.
“Jared helped land the 2028 Olympics for Los Angeles while Biden whiffed on an Olympic bid for Chicago. Jared was a leader in crafting the USMCA trade deal while Biden championed the job-killing NAFTA disaster. And Jared, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, was instrumental in moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem,” continued Parscale.
However, other experts have said that if Kushner, or other Trump family members, are in an unofficial role and don’t receive compensation, there isn’t a conflict with the statute.
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump do not draw a salary from their positions in the White House.
President Donald Trump earns $400,000 per year, while Vice President Mike Pence makes $230,700 annually. Since taking office, President Trump has donated his salary of $400,000 to different departments in the government.
Before taking on the advisory role, Ivanka oversaw development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization and along with her brother, led some of the company’s largest and most complex transactions.
“Ivanka Trump, in her own right, has proven herself to be an accomplished CEO and has made historic strides for women. Among her achievements are doubling the child tax credit, retraining 14 million American workers, and starting the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative,” said Parscale at the end of his statement.
