Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donald and NBC host Kristen Welker clashed Sunday over the conclusions of special counsel Robert Hur's report investigating President Biden's handling of classified documents.
Donald appeared on “Meet the Press” and spoke about his support for former President Donald Trump in the upcoming general election. During the interview, Welker asked the congressman about claims made by Biden campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond. to call President Trump's recent comments about criminal charges were “obviously racist.”
Mr. Donald said the accusations were politically motivated and contextualized Mr. Trump's comments, but Mr. Welker continued to press the congressman for his views. (Related: Exclusive: Committee claims Justice Department missed deadline to submit Biden-Hur interview transcript to Congress)
“Again, there is no evidence to support charges. [Trump] It's getting politicized, but just to stay with this question, Congressman, were you at all offended by his comments? ” Welker asked.
Mr. Donald pointed out the difference between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump's situation, saying that although Mr. Biden had “no right” to any of the documents pointed to in Mr. claimed that it had not been done. However, Donald's behavior led Welker to try to correct him, leading to a conflict between the two.
“No, it wasn't because I understood what the president was saying. And as I just said, for the third time he said all the reasons why minority voters want to support the president.”Kristen , let me push back a little bit, but now that we have the Robert Hur report on the misuse of classified information that is the Espionage Act by Joe Biden, we have to acknowledge the fact that when he was a senator and vice president. had no right to these documents, but no charges have been brought against President Biden. But is President Trump being indicted? Come on, we know that makes no sense at all,” Donald said. Stated.
“Wait a minute, Congressman, we have to press the pause button because there was not enough evidence to indict President Biden, and ultimately — the Hur report is very Because it was obvious,” Welker said before Donald interjected.
“Kristen, I have to push back that you're not — no, no, no,” Donalds interjected.
“That's what the Hurr report says. Congressman, that's exactly what the Hurr report says,” Welker reinforced.
“The Espionage Act is clear: As a senator or vice president, you cannot possess these documents. As a senator or vice president, you have no right to these documents. They must remain in a secure facility. Joe Biden took them from SCIF, which is a violation of the Espionage Act,” Donald said.
“Okay, but the bottom line is that Mr. Herr himself has said there's not enough evidence to bring charges,” Welker said before moving on to his next question.
Mr. Xu's report was released on February 8, and the president faced backlash, especially for labeling Mr. Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Although Mr. Hsu declined to press charges against Mr. Biden, the report said it would be “difficult to convince a jury” of serious felonies, which require a “willful state of mind.”
“We also believe that at trial Mr. Biden will likely appear before the jury as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory, just as he was when we interviewed him.” the report states.
“Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone many jurors would want to clear a reasonable doubt about.” It would be difficult to convince a jury that he should be convicted of a serious felony that requires a deliberate state of mind.”
After the report was released, Biden held a press conference in the evening in which he attempted to defend his mental health. But in addition to confusing multiple world leaders, Biden also couldn't remember which parish gave him a rosary in memory of his late son, Beau.
