Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump Refuses to Go Along With Republicans' Claim That He Was Joking When He Asked China to Investigate Biden

Trump Refuses to Go Along With Republicans' Claim That He Was Joking When He Asked China to Investigate Biden
The Hill

Try again.

Despite national outcry at his pressuring the Ukrainian President to investigate his political rival and former Vice President Joe Biden, President Donald Trump wasn't afraid to call on Chinese officials to investigate Biden as well. Trump urged officials to do so while speaking to reporters on the White House lawn.

When Americans across the country called him out, Trump's Republican allies assured them that Trump was only joking.


Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that Trump was just "needling the press" to "get everybody fired up."

Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) followed Rubio's lead, asking "You really think he was serious?"

So when speaking with Trump on the White House lawn again on Thursday afternoon, reporters asked him flat out: Were you joking when you called on China to investigate Biden? His answer was telling.

Watch below.

Trump made it clear that he wasn't joking, telling reporters:

"China has to do whatever they want. If they want to look into something, they can look into it. If they don't want to look into it, they don't have to. Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, I think that's great, and if they don't want to, I think that's great too."

Though he was certainly less forceful in endorsing a Chinese investigation into his potential 2020 opponent than he was the week prior, Trump said it would be "great" if China wanted to look into something before conceding that it's "great too" if they choose not to.

It wasn't long before Rubio began walking back his statement, accusing journalists of mischaracterizing him and promising that he never said the President was joking, but that it wasn't a "serious" request.

But people were pretty certain that Trump was, in fact, serious.

The response basically threw Rubio and Jordan's theories under the bus.

The "joking" or "trolling" defense is constantly used by Trump's enablers whenever he says or does something outrageous.

But why on earth is trolling an admirable quality in the leader of the free world?

Somebody ask Marco Rubio.

More from People/donald-trump

Screenshots from @chloyorkcity's TikTok video
@chloyorkcity/TikTok

Disastrous Baltimore Book Festival Sparks Brutal 'Willy Wonka Experience' And 'Fyre Fest' Comparisons

The "Willy Wonka Experience" disaster has struck again—but now among the BookTok community.

BookToker and indie author Grace Willows, who has since set her TikTok profile to private, told the BookTok community that she was organizing a literary ball for indie authors, literary vendors, and readers to meet.

Keep ReadingShow less
Anna Wintour
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Fans Spotted A Flaw On Anna Wintour's Met Gala Gown—And Someone's Getting Fired

Even Ana Wintour isn’t above a wardrobe mishap.

During Monday’s 2025 Met Gala, the famously polished Vogue editor-in-chief was spotted with a small but noticeable red stain on her otherwise pristine Louis Vuitton gown.

Keep ReadingShow less
Piers Morgan; Ye
Piers Morgan Uncensored/YouTube

Piers Morgan Rips Ye For Storming Out Of Interview Over Misstated Number Of X Followers

On Monday, British media personality Piers Morgan posted a 17-minute video of a remote interview he did with rapper, producer, and fashion designer Ye and Sneako on his Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel.

It was clear from the title—"'COWARD!' Kanye West/Ye WALKS OUT On Piers Morgan Interview'—that things didn't go well.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of JD Vance and Donald Trump
C-SPAN

Vance Ripped After Making Cringey Joke About Deporting 2026 World Cup Attendees

Vice President JD Vance was soundly criticized after he made a deportation joke while remarking how the 2026 World Cup will see visitors "from close to 100 countries" enter the U.S.

The moment occurred during an announcement naming Andrew Giuliani—son of former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani—as the head of a new task force for the 2026 World Cup, which is set to be hosted jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico next year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Stephen Miller
Fox News

Trump Adviser's Chess Analogy After Trump's Meeting With Canadian Prime Minister Is Epic Self-Own

President Donald Trump's adviser Stephen Miller was mocked online after he used a chess reference to heap praise onto Trump after his Oval office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Canadian voters returned the Liberal Party to power for a fourth consecutive term after Trump repeatedly threatened Canadian sovereignty amid an ongoing trade war. Carney made defending Canada’s sovereignty a cornerstone of his campaign, pushing back forcefully against Trump’s threats to annex the country as “the 51st state.”

Keep ReadingShow less