WASHINGTON — White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said he didn’t know if President Trump was joking when he said that China should investigate Joe and Hunter Biden.

“I don’t honestly know,” Kudlow told reporters Monday morning outside the White House.

On Sunday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — one of the few Republicans to appear on the Sunday shows to defend Trump — said Trump was merely kidding when he said Thursday morning that “Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens.”

The comment came after Trump said he would like Ukraine to look into the Bidens as well.

“George, you really think he was serious about thinking that China is going to investigate the Biden family?” Jordan told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on “This Week.” “I think he’s getting the press all spun up on it.”

Republicans have largely defended — or stayed quiet about — Trump’s comment that he would like to see Ukraine and China investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination, and his son Hunter, who had business dealings in the two countries while his father served as veep.

On Monday morning, Kudlow answered “no” when asked if the president’s call for China to investigate Joe Biden ever came up during trade discussions between the two countries.

“The president’s view is there is no linkage between that and trade talks. I guarantee there will be no linkage,” Kudlow also offered.

When asked if he could definitively state that Trump didn’t want China to investigate his chief Democratic political rival and that rival’s son, Kudlow replied, “You’re straying way off the reservation.”