#Joe Biden once joked about China helping him become president

Joe Biden once joked in 2013 about accepting Chinese help to seek the Oval Office, and the moment was caught on video still viewable on the Obama White House YouTube page.

The then-vice president made the remarks at the opening of the US-China Strategic And Economic Dialogue in Washington DC.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping assumed the top job in his country, “I congratulated him on his elevation, I asked if he could possibly help me,” Biden said to laughter from the assembled US and Chinese dignitaries.

“I’ve had the great pleasure and honor of spending a fair amount of time with President Xi when President Hu and President Obama thought the two vice presidents could – should get to know one another,” added the now-Democratic presidential nominee. “We ended up spending about 10 days together, five in each of our countries traveling around, and you get to know someone fairly well.”

US-China relations have deteriorated markedly since then, with President Trump slapping tariffs on the country to correct what he says have been years of one-sided trade agreements. Top intelligence officials have speculated that while Russia would prefer a Trump victory in 2020, both China and Iran would banking on Biden.

Such humor in today’s climate of foreign interference in U.S. elections doesn’t go over well.

In 2016, then-candidate Trump faced intense criticism for saying Russia should hack Hillary Clinton’s emails — something the country ultimately did. The moment came during the height of the Hillary Clinton email scandal amid questions of why she deleted more than 30,000 emails from a private server.

“I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump told reporters in Florida at the time. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

Trump later said he made the statement “in jest and sarcastically.”