House Democrats have produced a report showing that, during his presidency, Donald Trump accepted $7.8 million from foreign countries, most of which were from China. This serves as another illustration of what I have come to see as the iron law of Trump scandals: Anything a Trump opponent may do, Trump will do worse.
The classic example of the phenomenon is, of course, the Hillary Clinton email scandal. This was a massive political liability for Clinton because it was deemed, not unreasonably, the worst thing she had done as a public servant. But even by the narrow standard of upholding executive branch communications protocols, Trump’s behavior was vastly more irresponsible. He routinely communicated on unsecured cell phones, conducted foreign policy in a social club anyone could join and was a magnet for spies, mishandled classified documents, and, yes, allowed his advisers to conduct business by personal email.
The email story was bad by Hillary Clinton standards. By Trump standards, it barely registered.
Republicans are currently organizing a plan to impeach Joe Biden over foreign payments. The centerpiece of the indictment is a charge that Biden received payments from China, through his son Hunter. “Joe Biden received $40,000 in laundered China money from the account of his brother, James Biden, and his sister-in-law, Sara Biden, in the form of a personal check,” claimed the Republican-run House Oversight Committee.
It is true that Hunter Biden received money from China, a fact that underscores the ethically questionable business model of trading on his father’s name that he employed. Joe Biden permitted his son and his brother James to profit from the perception of access to him. There is no evidence, however, that Joe Biden received any money from these schemes. The $40,000 check was a loan repayment, not the cut of his profits. Also, it occurred in 2017, after Biden’s term as vice president had ended.
The bottom line is that Republicans are trying to impeach Joe Biden over the (false) accusation that he received $40,000 from China while he was no longer a public servant. And here we learn that Trump collected more than $5 million from China during his presidency.
That’s worse. Everyone can see that, even if you accept the totally false claims that Biden got money from China in 2017, Trump’s profits from China (during, not after his presidency) were much worse, right?
And everyone agrees that a public official getting money from China for his- or herself is worse than if their family members did so. That’s why Republicans are insisting without evidence that Joe Biden, not just Hunter or James, has made money from the deals. If family members getting rich from foreign deals was just as bad as the politicians doing it themselves, there would be no reason for Republicans to exaggerate the evidence.
It is true that Hunter Biden and Donald Trump used different methods to get money from China. Biden sold it his legal services, while Trump sold it hospitality. But Trump himself has stated in public that he tracks how much foreign countries spend on his business and adjusts his view of those countries accordingly. “Saudi Arabia, I get along great with all of them,” he announced at a 2015 rally. “They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much!”
The fact that Democrats are less corrupt than Trump is hardly a reason to accept unethical behavior. Biden never should have permitted his brother and son to sell the illusion of access to his decisions, and they would be better positioned to attack Trump’s corruption if their nominee had a cleaner record.
Still, there is a reason Trump is now calling Biden “Crooked Joe” after calling his previous opponent “Crooked Hillary.” It’s the same reason he called Ted Cruz “Lyin’ Ted.” He needs to obscure the reality that, even judging solely through the lens of the worst thing about whomever he is running against, Donald Trump is always, always worse.
