Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin deflected questions asking him to contrast President Trump’s children doing business internationally and former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, doing deals in Ukraine while his father was in office.
The topic of Biden’s son’s business dealings in Ukraine have gained notoriety recently after an intelligence community whistleblower filed a complaint alleging that the president made a “promise” to a foreign leader. Additional reporting has alleged that the conversation Trump had was with a Ukrainian official and that he requested they look into Biden’s son.
Addressing the allegations during State of the Union on Sunday, CNN host Jake Tapper brought up what he viewed as a double-standard because the president’s children also do business deals internationally.
“I don’t understand,” he said. “So it is okay for Donald Trump and Eric Trump Jr. to do business all over the world. It’s okay for Ivanka Trump to have copyrights approved all over the world while President Trump is president, but while Vice President Biden was vice president his son shouldn’t be able to do business dealings?” he asked.
“Again, I don’t want to go into more of these details other than to say,—” Mnuchin began to respond before being cut off.
Mnuchin later added, “Again, I think there is a significant difference in what you’re saying, okay? What I was saying, between Biden and his son’s relationship with the Ukraine oligarch and potential business dealings that the Trump Organization has had, which predated his presidency.”
