Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE on Sunday commended his fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBillionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice MORE, for pushing back against unproven allegations of corruption against his son Hunter.

“I’m a friend of Pete Buttigieg,” Biden said as he opened his remarks at the United Food and Commercial Workers union presidential forum in Iowa Sunday, taking the stage shortly after the South Bend mayor.

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“By the way, he’s a really decent guy. I turned on the television this morning and he was defending my family against these outrageous, lying ads of the president of the United States of America. That’s a good man.”

In remarks to CNN’s Jake Tapper Jacob (Jake) Paul TapperThe media's misleading use of COVID-19 data Julia Louis-Dreyfus: 'We can't spend much time grieving' Ginsburg Pence aide dismisses concerns rushed vote on Trump nominee will hurt vulnerable senators MORE on “State of the Union” Sunday morning, Buttigieg said Hunter Biden was held to different standards than President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE’s own children, contrasting Biden stepping down from the board of a Chinese company without formal allegations of wrongdoing “just to make sure there’s not even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

Meanwhile, Buttigieg told Tapper, “the president of the United States is a walking conflict of interest. You want to talk about family members, in the White House right now you’ve got Ivanka Trump Ivana (Ivanka) Marie TrumpThe Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump stokes fears over November election outcome Special counsel investigating DeVos for potential Hatch Act violation: report Trump, Biden vie for Minnesota MORE benefiting from patents from the Chinese, you’ve got the president’s son-in-law texting with Mohamed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.”

Buttigieg is not Biden’s first rival for the nomination to defend him against Trump’s allegations. Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenOvernight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds On The Money: Half of states deplete funds for Trump's 0 unemployment expansion | EU appealing ruling in Apple tax case | House Democrats include more aid for airlines in coronavirus package Warren, Khanna request IG investigation into Pentagon's use of coronavirus funds MORE (D-Mass.) has blasted Facebook in recent days for refusing to remove ads from the Trump campaign featuring baseless allegations about Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine. Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens have led to an impeachment inquiry in the House.