CNN’s Abby Phillip Confronts Matt Gaetz Over Biden Impeachment: ‘If You Had Evidence’ Against Biden ‘You’d Have The Votes’

CNN anchor Abby Phillip confronted Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) over the Biden impeachment inquiry, telling him “if you had evidence” implicating President Joe Biden, “you’d have the votes.”

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he was calling for the launch of an impeachment inquiry without a vote of the full House, in the face of a membership that can’t provide sufficient support to prevail in such a vote.

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN Primetime, Phillips got into it with Gaetz, repeatedly interrupting him to point out the lack of evidence against the president:

PHILLIP: I mean, he makes an important point that, in addition to what he said there, there are not the votes to support an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, and yet you continue to push Speaker McCarthy on that. Why is he wrong when, I think, the numbers are frankly on his side?

GAETZ: Well, let’s take the votes. I think it is an illusion of Washington that you can’t put anything on the floor that’s not going to pass. I actually think our representative republic would be more vibrant if we had more votes that were not always just pre-determined, right? And so if we put an impeachment inquiry on the floor and it didn’t pass, well, then the people who didn’t vote for it would have to be responsive to their voters. That’s the way this whole thing works.

And While Ken buck and I have strong disagreement on the quality of the evidence against Joe Biden, it’s interesting to note he is one of my strongest allies on the spending matters. So, we can disagree on impeachment, we can agree on spending, it shows that the issues aren’t particularly linked. As to the quality of the evidence, though, I just have to say, I mean, we do have bank records, devices, laptops, travel records, changes in administration policy, seems like pretty strong evidence to me.

PHILLIP: None of which links President Biden to —

GAETZ: Well, it was Joe Biden on the phone.

PHILLIP: — none of which —

GAETZ: He was calling into the meetings. But, Abby, are you actually trying to tell your viewers that you don’t believe that Joe Biden was involved in Hunter Biden’s business deals?

PHILLIP: Congressman, it’s not what I believe, it’s about whether there is evidence that President Biden is linked to the misdeeds that might be linked to Hunter Biden. That’s the issue.

But I want to get back —

GAETZ: That was tortured (ph).

PHILLIP: I do want to —

GAETZ: I mean, come on, he was — wait, hold on. Can you just acknowledge it calls into the business deals, he’s involved? When he calls dinners, you don’t think that’s involvement?

PHILLIP: First of all, this is not about innuendo. It’s not about what I believe. It’s a question, do you have evidence? If you had evidence that Joe Biden was linked to Hunter Biden’s business deals in a way that is illegal, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You would probably have the votes for an impeachment inquiry, but you don’t, because of people like ken buck, and people like Don Bacon, and many others in your conference.

GAETZ: Well, I see the evidence differently. I think that we need — that’s why we need to have the votes and have the debates and have the hearings.

Watch above via CNN Primetime.