Ukraine drama will impact Biden’s 2020 bid

WASHINGTON: Joe Biden may have inadvertently triggered the scandal now threatening Donald Trump´s presidency, but it has also impacted his own White House bid and the Democrat could soon learn whether it dooms his candidacy or bolsters it.

The two septuagenarians are at the center of a Washington maelstrom featuring an impeachment inquiry, intense partisan feuding and repeated attacks on Biden by a president apparently eager to create a fog of confusion over his potential 2020 election rival.

Trump has admitted seeking help from Ukraine´s president to investigate Biden on a phone call at the heart of a whistleblower complaint which has prompted House Democratic leadership to launch a formal impeachment probe against Trump.

He has also darkly insinuated that the former vice-president used his influence to help son Hunter Biden in his private-sector dealings in Ukraine, where he served on the board of an energy company.

Claims of Biden corruption have been fact-checked and largely debunked, but Trump has hammered away with his accusations in a thinly-veiled effort to cripple the Democratic frontrunner.

“Joe Biden and his son are corrupt,” Trump bellowed Tuesday.

If the accusations sounded worrying for Biden, his team suggested Democratic voters see it differently. “It´s been our best week of fund-raising since the second week of the campaign,” a campaign official told AFP Friday.

Biden himself has punched back against Trump. But in a Wednesday statement he said he “will continue to focus my campaign not on how Donald Trump abused his power to come after my family, but on how he has turned his back on America´s families.”

Attacks on relatives of politicians is tricky business, and there is always the threat of a backfire. Voters may sympathize with Biden, who lost son Beau to cancer, and with Hunter, who has struggled with drug abuse.

Democrats have repeatedly savaged Trump´s adult children, particularly sons Donald Jr and Eric, for their business dealings and campaign efforts.

Experts are split on how the Ukraine imbroglio will impact Biden, with American University professor of government David Lublin arguing it could serve Trump´s rival well in the long run.

“I can´t imagine a better way to increase your support among Democrats than to be attacked repeatedly by Donald Trump,” Lublin told AFP.

With Biden´s campaign flagging — rival Elizabeth Warren leapfrogged him to take top spot in recent polls in early voting Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as California — a war of words with Trump could boost Biden´s profile as a fighter and seasoned statesman. It could also bolster his campaign by siphoning attention away from Democratic hopefuls struggling to make their voices heard.