On Thursday, during a campaign-style rally in Minneapolis, President Donald Trump’s son Eric attacked Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son Hunter, The Hill reports.
Speaking before his father took the stage, the younger Trump accused Hunter of “embezzling a lot of money.”
“How do you think Joe Biden and his — how do you think his son is feeling right now, right after embezzling a lot of money, taking a lot of money, the crookedness,” he said.
“Right, he’s not looking too good, either,” the younger Trump added.
In his remarks, Eric Trump echoed his father, who claims that the former vice president inappropriately used his influence to help his son get a seat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
According to the president, the Bidens are corrupt, and Hunter made millions of dollars while his father was still in office serving as Barack Obama’s right-hand man.
“Maybe ‘lock her up’ goes to ‘lock him up,’” Eric said, referencing a popular chant that crowds gathered at Trump rallies frequently use to attack 2016 Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who the president has infamously vowed to incarcerate.
“I don’t know, I like ‘lock her up’ a little bit more, but thank you, that’s a good idea,” Eric said, as the crowd reportedly chanted “lock him up.”
Once the chant ended, Eric suggested that he does not actually believe Hunter should be in prison. The president’s son explained that his father’s accomplishments are in and of itself enough to get him re-elected, adding that prosecuting and imprisoning Hunter is not even necessary.
“Hey guys, we don’t need to lock him up,” Eric said, before praising his father’s job performance.
According to the younger Trump, because of the commander-in-chief, the United States is “winning again.”
“We don’t need to lock him up. We will just beat the hell out of all of them, we are going to win!” — Eric Trump comes dangerously close here to admitting that cajoling Ukraine to investigate the Bidens is all about politics pic.twitter.com/s8wXBIbRxr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 11, 2019
President Trump’s targeting of the Biden family, which lead to the launching of a formal impeachment inquiry , was first revealed by an anonymous intelligence community whistleblower.
According to the whistleblower, the president used the power of his office to pressure the government of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. Threatening to cut military aid, Trump allegedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter in order to damage his father’s presidential campaign.
The president has also been accused of corruption and nepotism, and some have argued that his children targeting Hunter is hypocritical.
Vox recently advised Eric and Donald Trump Jr. to “sit this Hunter Biden thing out,” accusing both of the president’s sons of hypocrisy, and pointing out that they have been responsible for the Trump Organization since their father took office.