During an interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, former Vice President Joe Biden said his son Hunter Biden was asked to be a board member of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma because he is “a very bright guy.”

“Do you think it was wrong for [Hunter] to take that position knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you?” Guthrie asked.

“Well that’s not true. You’re saying things you do not know what you’re talking about,” Biden responded.

Biden claimed his son got asked to be a board member of Burisma because he was a bright guy, not because his last name was Biden.

Joe Biden on why his son Hunter — who had no experience in Ukraine or in the energy sector — got an $80,000-per-month board seat with Burisma as father Biden was running US policy in Ukraine: "Cause he's a very bright guy." pic.twitter.com/2jOFbZQsre — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) February 3, 2020

In 2014, during his father’s time as vice president, Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. He was paid upwards of $50,000 per month, a shockingly high salary for Hunter Biden’s non-existent experience in the energy sector.

In 2018, Joe Biden bragged about withholding aid from Ukraine until they fired their top prosecutor. At the time, this top prosecutor was investigating Burisma, the very company Hunter Biden was a board member of.

The Bidens’ perceived misconduct is at the heart of the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump. In July 2019, Trump allegedly withheld Ukrainian military aid in hopes their government would launch an investigation into the Biden’s over potential malpractice in their previous dealings.

Since the inception of the impeachment trial, more allegations of misconduct against Hunter Biden have been discovered. The IRS went after Hunter Biden for evading income taxes up to $112,000. It was discovered his payout of $50,000 per month was far above comparable board positions and Hunter Biden also ran interference for a corrupt Romanian business tycoon.

In Monday’s “Today Show” interview, Joe Biden argued his son did nothing wrong and that it was merely the appearance of impropriety that was drawing media attention.

“No one’s found anything wrong with [Hunter’s] dealing with Ukraine, except they say it sets a bad image,” Biden said.

Hunter Biden was overly compensated for a position he was under qualified solely because of his last name. He evaded taxes and displayed a pattern of working with corrupt actors. For Joe Biden to negate these facts when running interference for his son is preposterous.

A winning argument for Joe Biden as he continues on the 2020 campaign trail is centered around admitting his son held the Burisma board position because of his last name. Joe Biden can claim his son did nothing wrong when working on the board, however, to insert the argument that Hunter Biden received his Burisma board position because he was “a very bright guy,” will not go far with primary voters who watch the questionable practices and patterns of Hunter Biden from afar.