周日，来自爱荷华州的共和党参议员乔尼·恩斯特警告说，唐纳德·特朗普总统被民主党领导的众议院弹劾为共和党寻求弹劾前副总统乔·拜登打开了大门，如果他今年当选白宫的话。
在接受采访时彭博新闻恩斯特警告拜登要“小心”，然后透露，如果这位前副总统赢得2020年大选，共和党人可能会立即弹劾他。
“我认为这是一扇可以弹劾的门，不管它打开了，”参议员说。“乔·拜登应该非常小心他的要求，因为，你知道，如果他成为拜登总统，人们会在他当选的第二天马上说，‘好吧，我们要弹劾他。’"
恩斯特解释说，拜登可能会被弹劾，“因为他被指派接手乌克兰的腐败，却对布里斯马视而不见，因为他的儿子在董事会的年薪超过100万美元。”。
作为回应，拜登周日在爱荷华州告诉支持者，“通过为我举行核心会议，向乔尼·恩斯特展示你有多聪明。”
“我保证，如果你站在我一边，我们将结束特朗普的仇恨和分裂统治，”这位2020年候选人补充道。
当拜登在巴拉克·奥巴马总统任副总统时，他访问了乌克兰，代表美国打击该国的腐败。在那里，他带头发起了一场将乌克兰检察长维克多·肖金赶下台的运动。最终，肖金在2016年被解雇。他后来声称拜登把他推出去是因为他在调查布里斯马控股公司，这是一家前副总统的儿子亨特·拜登曾经在董事会任职的公司。
恩斯特本周末发表上述言论之前，她在本周早些时候声称，在参议院弹劾特朗普的审判中关注拜登可能会让他失去2020年民主党提名。“我真的很想知道今天的讨论如何影响爱荷华州的核心选民，那些民主党核心选民。在这一点上，他们会支持副总统拜登吗？参议员说。
拜登利用她的评论在本周晚些时候的竞选审判中巩固了自己的基础。他在爱荷华州说:“你可以和我一起参加会议来破坏唐纳德·特朗普的夜晚，也可以破坏乔尼·恩斯特的夜晚。”。
自去年4月发起竞选活动以来，2020年最顶尖的民主党人在大多数全国民调中一直领先，在2010年爱荷华州初选中，他与参议员伯尼·桑德斯以25%的票数并列第一哥伦比亚广播公司新闻调查周日发布。前南本德市长皮特·巴蒂吉以21%的得票率位居第三，参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦以16%的得票率落后于第四。
这个故事已经更新，包括拜登周日对恩斯特言论的回应。
2019年9月10日，在DC华盛顿美国国会大厦，参议院共和党政策午餐会结束后，美国参议员乔尼·恩斯特(共和党)和参议院多数党党鞭约翰·图恩(共和党)在新闻发布会上发表讲话。
REPUBLICAN SENATOR WARNS TRUMP IMPEACHMENT 'OPENED' DOOR FOR GOP TO IMPEACH BIDEN OVER UKRAINE IF HE BECOMES PRESIDENT
Republican Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa on Sunday warned that President Donald Trump's impeachment by the Democrat-led House has "opened" the doors for the GOP to pursue the impeachment of former Vice President Joe Biden if he is elected into the White House this year.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Ernst cautioned Biden to be "careful," before revealing that Republicans may immediately move to impeach the former vice president if he wins the 2020 election.
"I think this door of impeachable whatever has been opened," the senator said. "Joe Biden should be very careful what he's asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if he should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, 'Well, we're going to impeach him.'"
Biden can be impeached "for being assigned to take on Ukrainian corruption yet turning a blind eye to Burisma because his son was on the board making over a million dollars a year," Ernst explained.
In response, Biden told supporters in Iowa on Sunday to "show Joni Ernst just how smart you are by caucusing for me."
"I promise if you stand with me, we will end Trump's reign of hatred and division," the 2020 candidate added.
When Biden served as vice president under President Barack Obama, he visited Ukraine to represent America in the fight against corruption in the country. There, he spearheaded a campaign to oust Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin from office. Eventually, Shokin was fired in 2016. He later claimed that Biden pushed him out because he was probing Burisma Holdings, a company that the former vice president's son, Hunter Biden, once served on the board for.
Ernst's remarks this weekend came after she claimed earlier in the week that focusing on the Bidens during the Senate impeachment trial of Trump could cost him the 2020 Democratic nomination. "I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus goers. Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Not certain at that," the senator said.
Biden used her comments to rally his base on the campaign trial later in the week. "You can ruin Donald Trump's night by caucusing with me and ruin Joni Ernst's night as well," he said in Iowa.
The top-tier 2020 Democrat, who has been leading the crowded field in most national polls since launching his campaign last April, tied with Senator Bernie Sanders at 25 percent for first choice among Iowa caucusgoers in a CBS News poll released Sunday. Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg came in third with 21 percent, while Senator Elizabeth Warren trailed behind in fourth, garnering 16 percent.
This story has been updated to include Biden's Sunday response to Ernst's remarks.
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) speaks as Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Thune (R-SD) listen during a news briefing after the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon September 10, 2019 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
