President Trump told supporters Thursday night that Democratic candidate Joseph R. Biden “was only a good vice president because he understood how to kiss Barack Obama’s ass.”

At a raucous rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mr. Trump went after Mr. Biden and his son, Hunter, over the younger Biden’s lucrative deals with a Ukrainian gas company and with China while the father was vice president.

“I want to see Hunter asked these questions: ‘You know nothing about anything, frankly, Hunter, you’re a loser. Why did you get $1.5 billion [from China], Hunter?”

Mr. Trump went on, “And your father was never considered smart. He was never considered a good senator. He was only a good vice president because he understood how to kiss Barack Obama’s ass.”

The president said he would “love” to run against Mr. Biden.

“If you can’t beat him in a debate, you’ve got a big problem,” he said. “He’s totally owned and totally controlled by the Washington swamp.”

The president went with criticism that Hunter Biden has now dropped out of public view since the controversy arose.

“Joe’s son Hunter got thrown out of the Navy and then he became a genius on Wall Street in about two days,” he said. By the way, what the hell ever happened to Hunter? Where is he? Let’s do another t-shirt: Where’s Hunter?”

The president also referred to a report in the Washington Examiner Thursday night that the anonymous whistleblower who launched the impeachment inquiry against him had worked with Mr. Biden in the White House.

“In a brand-new report, just came out as I’m walking on the stage, hard to believe, actually, it turns out that [when] Joe Biden was vice president, he worked with the so-called whistleblower,” Mr. Trump said. “This is nothing but a partisan witch hunt, sabotage. And I’m sure they [the media] are going to say it’s a totally unsubstantiated story.”

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