Hunter Biden’s former business partner and friend testified to Congress Monday that he was on a speakerphone several times with Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden when the elder Biden was vice president.
However, Archer said they only discussed pleasantries, not business dealings involving China and Ukraine.
Archer testified that President Biden was put on the phone to help Hunter Biden sell what he referred to as “the brand,” according to GOP Representative James Comer of Kentucky, who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
According to reports, Hunter Biden was allegedly paid millions of dollars as a consultant to Burisma, a Ukraine gas company, and other overseas entities to gain access to the vice president.
According to the most recent Rasmussen Reports poll taken just before Archer’s closed-door testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee, 60% of likely voters say President Joe Biden has been part of an illegal cover-up to hide his involvement in his son’s foreign business deals; while 45% thing a cover-up is very likely; 34% of respondents say it’s not likely Biden has illegally covered up his role in Hunter’s foreign business, including 18% who maintain it’s not at all likely.
President Joe Biden has claimed he never discussed Hunter Biden’s business affairs with him.
Testimony from Archer “confirms Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved,” said Rep. Comer, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Majority indicates the president’s involvement is a serious scandal
In the Rasmussen poll, 61% of voters indicated this is a serious scandal, including 44% who said it was very serious. However, 29% don’t believe the involvement of President Biden in his son’s foreign business is a serious scandal, including 13% who don’t think it is at all serious.
Last week, Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House, said Biden had done “something we have not seen since Richard Nixon: Use the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have the oversight.”
Over half of voters — 58% — agree with McCarthy’s statement, including 43% strongly agree, 35% who disagree, including 26% who disagree strongly.
Democrats are far less likely than other voters to view President Biden’s purported involvement in his son’s business dealings as scandalous. Only 20% of Democrats believe this is a very serious scandal compared to 66% of the GOP and 49% of voters affiliated with either major party.
Only 18% of Democrats strongly agree with Speaker McCarthy in comparing Biden to Nixon, while 69% of Republicans and 46% of unaffiliated voters agree.
While 69% of GOP voters and 48% of unaffiliated ones think it is very likely the president has participated in an illegal cover-up to hide his involvement in his son’s business deals, only 20% of Democrats believe a similar cover-up is very likely.
By race, 56% of Black people, 63% of White people, and 62% of other minorities think President Biden’s involvement in his son’s foreign business deals is at least a somewhat serious scandal. Fewer black voters (27%) than white (49%) or different minorities (42%) believe it’s very likely the president has participated in an illegal cover-up.
Fewer women (57%) than men (67%) voters say Biden’s involvement in Hunter’s business deals is at least a somewhat serious scandal.
Older voters are much more likely than those under 40 to deem the Biden scandal very serious and strongly agree with Speaker McCarthy comparing Nixon and Biden.
Only 30% of voters who self-identify as liberal think the president’s involvement in his son’s foreign business deal is at least a somewhat serious scandal, compared with 87% of conservatives and 54% of moderates.
In income categories, voters earning between $30,000 and $50,000 annually are most likely to say Biden faces a very serious scandal.
Rasmussen Reports conducted the survey of 1,027 likely U.S. voters on July 26-27 and July 30. The sampling error margin is plus/minus percentage points with a 95% confidence level. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports Pulse Opinion Research, LLC conducts surveys.
