The journalists on CBS This Morning last week brought on former Obama/Biden aide Susan Rice to defend Joe Biden. This week, however, they seemed annoyed that Rand Paul wouldn’t back impeachment against Donald Trump. The co-hosts ignored the Republican Senator’s points about the ex-Vice President and son Hunter Biden, instead repeating the same question over and over.
Tony Dokoupil asked, “Do you think it was appropriate for President Trump to solicit foreign help in the 2020 campaign or do you think it was inappropriate but just not impeachable?” Co-host Anthony Mason demanded, “But, Senator, is it wrong or isn’t it?”
Speaking of the Ukraine story and the American people’s reaction to it, Paul told the journalists: “Joe Biden threatened [Ukranian] aid, if they didn't fire a prosecutor that was looking into a company where Hunter Biden was making $50,000 a month.”
As NewsBusters previously reported, discussion of Hunter Biden and his actions isn’t something the networks have been interested in. Paul told the co-hosts: “Ask the American people, do you think $50,000 a month that Hunter Biden was getting might be corrupt?”
Later, the discussion moved onto Paul’s new book about socialism. Co-host Jericka Duncan, still annoyed at the impeachment debate, got in one last shot:
JERICKA DUNCAN: Senator Paul, you also talk in your book about finding common ground. How do you do that? How do you do that when you look at the rhetoric that's happening and you
PAUL: Well, here the thing —
DUNCAN: And just the disposition of not being able to answer a question directly.
Last week, in contrast to how Paul was treated, co-host Gayle King offered former Obama/Biden aide Susan Rice an opportunity to go after Trump:
What do you think about the President attacking the whistleblower? How concerned should we be about that? And Mike Pompeo on the call, is that normal that the Secretary of State would be on the call? That the whistleblower was talking about?
On ABC’s Good Morning America, Thursday, an ABC reporter urged Ukraine’s President to call Trump “corrupt.”
A transcript of the segment is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS This Morning
10/10/19
8:05TONY DOKOUPIL: Senator, could you clarify your position on impeachment before we get to the book here? Do you think it was appropriate for President Trump to solicit foreign help in the 2020 campaign or do you think it was inappropriate but just not impeachable?
SENATOR RAND PAUL: I think that the American people want everybody to be treated equally. And so I think when they see Joe Biden doing similar, with similar accusations, that Joe Biden threatened their aid, if they didn't fire a prosecutor that was looking into a company where Hunter Biden was making $50,000 a month, so I would say if that's going on and then Democrat senators are also threatening the aid, now President Trump is saying he threatened the aid, sounds like everybody is threatening Ukraine's aid over Ukraine doing what they want them to do. If you want to be equal, people, if you want to impeach President Trump, they should have impeached Joe Biden as well for the similar activity --
ANTHONY MASON: But, Senator, is it wrong, or isn't it?
PAUL: No, I think it's not incorrect or wrong to —
MASON: It's okay for the President to be —
PAUL: No, let me finish. What I would say is that aid that we give to other countries should be contingent upon behavior. Whether or not we should have Ukraine trying to eradicate corruption, yes.
MASON: This was specifically about Mr. Biden.
PAUL: I don't know, ask the American people if they think $50,000 —
MASON: I'm asking you. You're a senator!
PAUL: I know. But ask the American people do you think $50,000 a month that Hunter Biden was getting might be corrupt?
DOKOUPIL: You were running for president in 2016. Would you have done this if you were elected?
PAUL: I think everybody has different ways that they would approach things.
DOKOUPIL: Sir, you, sir. You.
PAUL: Well, the thing is now we're getting down to whether or not it's personality and how he reacted in a phone call. To impeach people because he has a more direct way of approaching.
MASON: It's not a equipment question of impeaching.
PAUL: That’s what we’re talking about.
MASON: My question is, is it right or wrong to ask a foreign leader to help in an election with, by the way, nearly $400 million in aid hanging over his head?
PAUL: guess the thing is would you say we can't invest corruption if they happen to be political figures --
MASON: It's not. It’s not.
PAUL: Well, it is because —
MASON: He wasn't speaking to broader corruption. He was speaking — he used that word, but he spoke specifically about —
PAUL: Right. If Hunter Biden's father was an industrial magnate in the United States, you'd say it's okay that he asked to investigate Hunter Biden. Just because he was a politician, you say he's somehow involved in politics.
MASON: He's more than a politician, he's the Democratic front-runner.
PAUL: Well, I think the chances of Joe Biden actually being the nominee are almost zero.
MASON: That's a — that's a different point.
PAUL: What I would say is the American people want corruption to be looked at equally. They want equal protection under the law. If we're going to say what President Trump did was wrong, we’re going to have to say what Joe Biden did was wrong.
MASON: You’re not answering my question. Was it wrong? Was it wrong?
PAUL: Four Democratic senators came forward and said, “Hey, if you don’t keep investigating Trump, we’re going to vote against your aid. If everybody, Republican or Democrat are doing the exact same thing, so how can we say it’s impeachable on one side and we’re going to excuse Joe Biden on the other side.
DOKOUPIL: Notably absent is an answer to the question of whether you, Rand Paul, think it's appropriate. However, I want to get to the book because socialism is also in the news these days. You write that people misunderstands it. They throw the term out there, but when you ask them to define it, it's a much problematic thing. The polls that show support misleading.
...
JERICKA DUNCAN: Senator Paul, you also talk in your book about finding common ground. How do you do that? How do you do that when you look at the rhetoric that's happening and youPAUL: Well, here the thing —
DUNCAN: And just the disposition of not being able to answer a question directly.
