Ron DeSantis, GOP presidential candidate, questions trajectory of Joe Biden impeachment inquiry

GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Sunday poured cold water on House Republicans formalizing their impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

The Florida governor said the prospect of holding an official vote to authorize an inquiry, which the chamber has not done, has the potential to backfire on Republicans in an election year.

“I think that the Biden family, the amount of money that’s flowed into that family, to me, is corrupt. I think that it’s not been explained in ways that make any sense. So opening an inquiry, based on the facts that we have, I think would be justifiable,” Mr. DeSantis said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “However, I think they run the risk of doing an inquiry that doesn’t necessarily lead anywhere while they’ve been ignoring a lot of the problems that our voters are talking about.”

The warning is reminiscent of that from some Republicans on Capitol Hill, as House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has uncovered questionable and lucrative foreign business deals within the Biden family and first son Hunter Biden but none that directly tie the president to any wrongdoing.

“When I’m going through Iowa, Republican voters obviously are not fond of Joe Biden,” Mr. DeSantis said. “But they’re more concerned about what’s happening at our border. They’re more concerned about what’s happening with the economy. They’re more concerned about federal agencies that are overstepping their bounds. So if you’re doing the inquiry, which, again, I think is justifiable, you also have to be addressing all these other issues. I think that there’s a feeling out here that they’re not focused on the key issues that they wanted to see addressed.”

Mr. DeSantis offered a final piece of advice for his party: “Make sure you’re not ignoring all these other issues, and don’t use that inquiry as kind of a Trojan horse to not then meet your responsibilities on all these other things.”