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Former Vice President Joe Biden believes that if elected he can work with Republicans. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Despite Impeachment and Family Being Targeted, Joe Biden Still Believes He Can Work With Republicans
The former vice president made the comments Monday morning in an interview with NBC News.
Feb 02, 2020
Despite Republican senators marching in lockstep to protect President Donald Trump from impeachment over a scheme to withhold military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden in order to damage Biden politically, the Democratic presidential hopeful on Monday claimed that if elected he would be able to work with the GOP.
"It hasn't shaken my faith in being able to work with at least somewhere between seven and 15 of the Republicans who are there" in the Senate, Biden told NBC News reporter Savannah Guthrie.
Biden did not say which senators he was referring to.
Watch the full interview:
As Common Dreams reported, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said in an interview Sunday that the GOP could act to impeach a Democratic president--specifically Biden--immediately.
"Joe Biden should be very careful what he's asking for," said Ernst, "because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, 'Well, we're going to impeach him.'"
Trump was impeached by the House in December for an unsuccessful attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden's son Hunter Biden's employment by Ukrainian gas giant Burisma. Congressional Republicans have stood by the president.
The former vice president's comments on cooperation struck Guthrie as ironic given the topic of impeachment and the "certain irony" that the impeachment process has brought Hunter Biden and Burisma front and center into the news.
In response, Biden insisted that his son had done nothing wrong though he conceded the situation "set a bad image."
"Do you think it was wrong for him to take that position, knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you?" Guthrie asked.
Biden pushed back, saying that the NBC News journalist did not know what she was talking about and that the claims Hunter Biden got the job because of his father were "not true."
"Don't you think that it's just one of those things where people think, well, that seems kind of sleazy," Guthrie continued. "Why would he have that job if not for who his father was?"
His son got the job "because he's a bright guy," Biden replied.
In October, Hunter Biden told ABC News his family connections were likely the reason he was named to the board of Burisma.
"I think that it is impossible for me to be on any of the boards I just mentioned without saying that I'm the son of the vice president of the United States," said Hunter Biden.
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Despite Republican senators marching in lockstep to protect President Donald Trump from impeachment over a scheme to withhold military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden in order to damage Biden politically, the Democratic presidential hopeful on Monday claimed that if elected he would be able to work with the GOP.
"It hasn't shaken my faith in being able to work with at least somewhere between seven and 15 of the Republicans who are there" in the Senate, Biden told NBC News reporter Savannah Guthrie.
Biden did not say which senators he was referring to.
Watch the full interview:
As Common Dreams reported, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said in an interview Sunday that the GOP could act to impeach a Democratic president--specifically Biden--immediately.
"Joe Biden should be very careful what he's asking for," said Ernst, "because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, 'Well, we're going to impeach him.'"
Trump was impeached by the House in December for an unsuccessful attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden's son Hunter Biden's employment by Ukrainian gas giant Burisma. Congressional Republicans have stood by the president.
The former vice president's comments on cooperation struck Guthrie as ironic given the topic of impeachment and the "certain irony" that the impeachment process has brought Hunter Biden and Burisma front and center into the news.
In response, Biden insisted that his son had done nothing wrong though he conceded the situation "set a bad image."
"Do you think it was wrong for him to take that position, knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you?" Guthrie asked.
Biden pushed back, saying that the NBC News journalist did not know what she was talking about and that the claims Hunter Biden got the job because of his father were "not true."
"Don't you think that it's just one of those things where people think, well, that seems kind of sleazy," Guthrie continued. "Why would he have that job if not for who his father was?"
His son got the job "because he's a bright guy," Biden replied.
In October, Hunter Biden told ABC News his family connections were likely the reason he was named to the board of Burisma.
"I think that it is impossible for me to be on any of the boards I just mentioned without saying that I'm the son of the vice president of the United States," said Hunter Biden.
Despite Republican senators marching in lockstep to protect President Donald Trump from impeachment over a scheme to withhold military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden in order to damage Biden politically, the Democratic presidential hopeful on Monday claimed that if elected he would be able to work with the GOP.
"It hasn't shaken my faith in being able to work with at least somewhere between seven and 15 of the Republicans who are there" in the Senate, Biden told NBC News reporter Savannah Guthrie.
Biden did not say which senators he was referring to.
Watch the full interview:
As Common Dreams reported, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said in an interview Sunday that the GOP could act to impeach a Democratic president--specifically Biden--immediately.
"Joe Biden should be very careful what he's asking for," said Ernst, "because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, 'Well, we're going to impeach him.'"
Trump was impeached by the House in December for an unsuccessful attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden's son Hunter Biden's employment by Ukrainian gas giant Burisma. Congressional Republicans have stood by the president.
The former vice president's comments on cooperation struck Guthrie as ironic given the topic of impeachment and the "certain irony" that the impeachment process has brought Hunter Biden and Burisma front and center into the news.
In response, Biden insisted that his son had done nothing wrong though he conceded the situation "set a bad image."
"Do you think it was wrong for him to take that position, knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you?" Guthrie asked.
Biden pushed back, saying that the NBC News journalist did not know what she was talking about and that the claims Hunter Biden got the job because of his father were "not true."
"Don't you think that it's just one of those things where people think, well, that seems kind of sleazy," Guthrie continued. "Why would he have that job if not for who his father was?"
His son got the job "because he's a bright guy," Biden replied.
In October, Hunter Biden told ABC News his family connections were likely the reason he was named to the board of Burisma.
"I think that it is impossible for me to be on any of the boards I just mentioned without saying that I'm the son of the vice president of the United States," said Hunter Biden.
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LATEST NEWS
'So Corrupt': DOJ Drops Antitrust Case Against Company Represented by Bondi's Former Lobbying Firm
"Follow the money," one critic wrote in response to the Justice Department's decision to drop an antitrust case against American Express Global Business Travel.
Jul 31, 2025
The U.S. Justice Department this week dropped an antitrust case against a company represented by the lobbying firm that employed Pam Bondi before her confirmation as attorney general earlier this year.
American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has paid the lobbying giant Ballard Partners hundreds of thousands of dollars this year to pressure Bondi's Justice Department on "antitrust issues," according to federal disclosures.
The DOJ's decision to drop the antitrust lawsuit, which was initially filed during the final days of the Biden administration, allows Amex GBT's acquisition of rival CWT Holdings to move forward despite concerns that the merger would harm competition in the travel management sector. Amex GBT said it was "pleased" the DOJ dropped the case ahead of trial, which was set to begin in September.
Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel for the anti-monopoly American Economic Liberties Project, called the Justice Department's move "so so so corrupt" and urged observers to "follow the money."
Amex GBT paid Ballard Partners $50,000 in the first quarter of 2025 and $150,000 in the second quarter to lobby the Justice Department. Jon Golinger, democracy advocate with Public Citizen, said last week that "the American people deserve to know whether Attorney General Bondi has been involved with her former firm's lobbying and if the red carpet is being rolled out for these clients by the Department of Justice because of her former role at Ballard."
"If Bondi has been involved with the Ballard firm's lobbying, she has likely violated the ethics pledge," Golinger added. "The American people deserve an attorney general who always puts their needs above the special interest agendas of former business associates."
Scrutiny of the Justice Department's decision to drop the Amex GBT case comes amid allegations of corruption surrounding the DOJ's merger settlement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks last month. It also comes days after the Justice Department fired two of its top antitrust officials.
The American Prospect's David Dayen noted Tuesday that the Justice Department's voluntary dismissal of the Amex GBT lawsuit means the case—unlike the Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper settlement—doesn't have to face a Tunney Act review.
In a statement to the Prospect, a Justice Department spokesperson denied that Bondi had any involvement in the antitrust division's decision to drop the Amex GBT case.
"The smell of corruption has gotten bad enough that they're trying to shape the information environment," Dayen wrote in response to the DOJ statement.
'The Tide Is Turning,' Says Sanders as Majority of Senate Dems Vote to Block Arms Sales to Israel
"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."
Jul 31, 2025
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' latest effort to block additional American arms sales to Israel failed again late Wednesday at the hands of every Republican senator and some Democrats.
But a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus voted in favor of Sanders-led resolutions that aimed to halt the Trump administration's sale of 1,000-pound bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits, and tens of thousands of assault rifles to the Israeli government.
The first resolution, S.J.Res.41, failed by a vote of 27-70, and the second, S.J.Res.34, failed by a vote of 24-73, with the effort to block the sale of assault rifles to the Israeli government garnering slightly more support than the bid to prevent the sale of bombs.
The following senators voted to block the assault rifle sale: Sanders, Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
And the following senators voted to block the sale of additional bombs: Sanders, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Blunt Rochester, Duckworth, Durbin, Heinrich, Hirono, Kaine, Kim, King, Klobuchar, Luján, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Murray, Schatz, Shaheen, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Warren, and Welch.
Three Democratic senators—Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan—did not vote on either resolution.
"Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."
In a statement responding to the vote, Sanders said growing Democratic support for halting arms sales to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an indication that "the tide is turning" in the face of Israel's "horrific, immoral, and illegal war against the Palestinian people."
"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," the senator said. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."
Wednesday's votes revealed a significant increase in support for halting U.S. military support for the Israeli government compared to earlier this year, when only 14 Democratic senators backed similar Sanders-led resolutions.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who did not vote on the Sanders resolutions in April, said Wednesday that "this legislative tool is not perfect, but frankly it is time to say enough to the suffering of innocent young children and families."
"As a longtime friend and supporter of Israel, I am voting yes to send a message: The Netanyahu government cannot continue with this strategy," said Murray. "Netanyahu has prolonged this war at every turn to stay in power. We are witnessing a man-made famine in Gaza—children and families should not be dying from starvation or disease when literal tons of aid and supplies are just sitting across the border."
The Senate votes came days after the official death toll in Gaza surpassed 60,000 and a new poll showed that U.S. public support for Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave reached a new low, with just 32% of respondents expressing approval. The Gallup survey found that support among Democratic voters has cratered, with just 8% voicing approval of the Israeli assault.
"The vast majority of Democratic voters say Israel is committing genocide, and have repeatedly demanded that their party's elected officials in Congress stop helping President Trump deliver more and more weapons to Israel with our tax dollars," Margaret DeReus, executive director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, said Wednesday. "Tonight proved that an increasing number of Democrats in the Senate–more than half of the Democratic caucus–are hearing that demand."
Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, called the vote "unprecedented" and said it "shows that the dam is breaking in U.S. politics."
"Our job is to increase the pressure on every member of Congress to stop all weapons and military funding," said Miller. "For 22 months, the U.S. has enabled, funded, and armed the Israeli government's slaughter and starvation in Gaza, and still the majority of senators just voted to continue sending weapons to a military live-streaming its crimes against humanity."
"The overwhelming majority of Americans want to stop the flow of deadly weapons to the Israeli military and end U.S. complicity in its horrific genocide against Palestinians," Miller added. "Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."
GOP AGs Urge Congress to Crack Down on Shield Laws and Telehealth Abortions
The Republican coalition targeted California and New York, both home to doctors who have been targeted by legal cases for allegedly providing abortion pills to patients in states with strict bans.
Jul 30, 2025
While a recently filed lawsuit in Texas jeopardizes the future of telehealth abortions, some Republican state attorneys general don't want the GOP-controlled Congress to wait for the results of that case, and this week urged leaders on Capitol Hill to consider passing federal legislation that would restrict doctors from shipping pills to patients to end their pregnancies.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court's right-wing majority ended nationwide abortion rights with Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization three years ago, anti-choice state lawmakers have ramped up efforts to restrict reproductive freedom. At the same time, some Democratic officials have enacted "shield laws" to protect in-state providers and traveling patients.
Led by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, 16 state AGs on Tuesday wrote to top congressional leaders from both parties, calling on them to "assess the constitutional authority it may have to preempt shield laws."
Griffin also sent cease-and-desist letters to two entities shipping abortion medication within the United States and two website companies that provide services to LifeOnEasyPills.org. Reporting on the AG's press conference, South Carolina Daily Gazette noted that "if the entities don't cease advertising abortion pills in Arkansas, Griffin said his office may bring a lawsuit against them for violating the state's deceptive trade practices law."
While Griffin also "said he believes what he is asking lawmakers to do is different from a federal abortion ban that the closely divided Congress has seemed hesitant to tackle," according to the Daily Gazette, advocates for reproductive rights disagreed.
Responding to the letter to Congress on social media, the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All shared a petition opposing a national abortion ban. It says that Republican President Donald Trump "has proven time and time again that he is out of touch with the 8 in 10 Americans who support protecting abortion rights."
"On the campaign trail he spewed whatever lies he could to get him reelected. Now he'll use the Project 2025 playbook to further restrict our right to access abortion, contraception, fertility treatments, and more," the petition warns. "We must stop him."
Yesterday, 16 Republican attorneys general sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to override state telemedicine abortion shield laws.Sign the petition below to stand up to Republican lawmakers!act.reproductivefreedomforall.org/a/no-nationa...
[image or embed]
— Reproductive Freedom for All (@reproductivefreedomforall.org) July 30, 2025 at 3:48 PM
In addition to Griffin, the Tuesday letter is signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The GOP coalition targeted two states, arguing that "when New York or California refuses to respect a criminal prosecution or a civil judgment against an individual who is accused of violating the abortion laws of another state, they are refusing to give full faith and credit to that state's judicial proceedings."
Last December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against a provider in New York. He sued Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter, co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT), for providing two drugs used in medication abortions—mifepristone and misoprostol—to a 20-year-old resident of Collin County.
In February, on the same day that Texas State District Judge Bryan Gantt ordered Carpenter to pay over $100,000 in fines and fees, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill sought to extradite the ACT doctor. Her state classifies mifepristone and misoprostol as dangerous controlled substances.
While Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed the extradition warrant sought by Murrill and the district attorney, New York is one of nearly two dozen states with shield laws for reproductive healthcare, and its Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, said that "I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana—not now, not ever."
On Monday, Paxton took legal action against Taylor Brucka, the clerk in Ulster County, New York, for refusing to make Carpenter pay the $100,000 penalty. Bruck told The Guardian that "it's really unprecedented for a clerk to be in this position" and "I'm just proud to live in a state that has something like the shield law here to protect our healthcare providers from out-of-state proceedings like this."
Meanwhile, another case involving a California doctor emerged in Texas earlier this month: A man filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Dr. Rémy Coeytaux for allegedly mailing to Galveston County medication that his girlfriend used to end her pregnancy. His lawyer is Jonathan Mitchell, an "anti-abortion legal terrorist" who previously served as the state's solicitor general and was the chief architect of its law that entices anti-choice vigilantes with $10,000 bounties to enforce a six-week ban.
Mary Ziegler, an abortion historian and law professor at the University of California, Davis, recently told Mother Jones that "the whole game for Jonathan Mitchell is to get into federal court... both because he wants to shut down doctors in shield law states, like everyone in the anti-abortion movement, and because he wants a federal court to weigh in on the Comstock Act," a dormant 1873 law that criminalized the shipping of "obscene" materials, including abortifacients.
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