A White House spokesman was left speechless after he was asked about a poll involving President Joe Biden.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, the New York Post’s Steven Nelson noted, “There was a Harvard/Harris poll this month that found that 53% of the public, including a fourth of Democrats, believe, ‘Joe Biden was involved with his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme.’”
He asked, “What do you say to the majority of Americans who believe that the president is himself corrupt?”
“Wow,” White House National Security Coordinator John Kirby responded before apparently struggling to find the words to respond for several seconds.
He added, “The president has spoken to this. And there’s nothing to these claims.”
Watch the exchange below:
.@NYPost's @StevenNelson10 to John Kirby: "A Harvard/Harris poll…found that 53% of the public…believe 'Joe Biden was involved w/his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme'…What do you say to the majority of Americans who believe that the President is himself corrupt?" pic.twitter.com/2WnNjbgJLC
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 31, 2023
The poll Nelson referenced, the Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, was conducted May 17-18.
It surveyed 2,004 registered voters.
And it found 63% of respondents said they believe the president’s son, Hunter Biden, was involved in influence peddling.
Forty-three percent of Democrats, 83% of Republicans, and 65% of independents said they believed that to be the case.
Meanwhile, 57% of Democrats said Hunter Biden was not involved in such a scheme, and 17% of Republicans and 35% of independents said the same.
Additionally, 53% of respondents said they believed Joe Biden was involved in illegal influence peddling while he was vice president, including 25% of Democrats, 79% of Republicans, and 58% of independents.
Majorties of Americans also believe:
* Hunter Biden engaged in criminal influence peddling using his father’s name.
* The FBI is not investigating these crimes.
* Joe Biden participated in Hunter’s illegal influence peddling and profiteering schemes. pic.twitter.com/HJP4sSfogw
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 21, 2023
The poll comes after House Republicans released a preliminary report into their investigation of the business dealings of Biden family members.
The New York Times noted, “Republicans described the transactions as proof of ‘influence peddling’ by Mr. Biden’s family, including his son Hunter Biden, and referenced some previously known, if unflattering, details of the younger Mr. Biden’s business dealings.”
“Those included an episode in which he accepted a 2.8-carat diamond from a Chinese businessman. G.O.P. lawmakers also produced material suggesting that President Biden and his allies had at times made misleading statements in their efforts to push back aggressively against accusations of wrongdoing by Hunter Biden,” it continued.
However, the paper added Republicans admitted they did not have “evidence of a specific corrupt action Mr. Biden took in office in connection with any of the business deals his son entered into.”