Dogged by numerous scandals, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has seen his lead in the mainstream media polls narrow in recent days.
Just one day ahead of his final debate with President Donald Trump, Biden’s campaign is suddenly dodging a new set of questions by lawmakers about a recent charted trip.
Was Biden’s use of a personal charted Amtrak train after the first debate in September a potential violation of campaign finance laws?
That’s what Republicans in the House want to know.
Arkansas Republican Reps. Rick Crawford, R-A.R., Bob Gibbs, R-O.H, and Scott Perry and Lloyd Smucker, R-P.A., are asking if Biden improperly used the rail system for his recent campaign stops across the Rust Belt.
“We are concerned that the apparent use of a struggling, resource-deprived, publicly run service for political gain does not serve the best interests of Amtrak or the American taxpayers at this time,” the House Republicans wrote.
His campaign chartered a nine-car private train to tour parts of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania after the debate last month — key areas to pick up votes if he wants to flip the states from red to blue in November.
The GOP lawmakers want Biden to prove he “paid a full, non-discount rate” for the chartered Amtrak train, and that the Biden campaign’s use didn’t deprive taxpayers of the government-funded service.
Biden’s campaign dismissed the criticism. Instead, a spokesman attacked Trump’s use of the White House to host portions of the Republican National Convention.
“Anyone can charter a train with Amtrak,” Biden campaign spokesman Matt Hill said in a statement. “Last time we checked, no one can charter the White House South Lawn for a political convention.”
The former vice president is a frequent Amtrak rider. He’s estimated to have logged more than 2.1 million miles riding the rails in his lifetime.
Starting around the time his first wife and young daughter died in a car crash just before Christmas 1972, he took the train daily from Wilmington, Delaware, to Washington and then back again to be home with his two young sons. The roundtrip was 250 miles, and he made it every day the Senate was in session during his decades serving in the chamber.
His campaign has used the commute in ads meant to portray Biden as an everyman, and the Amtrak station in Wilmington was renamed in his honor.
Biden, making his third run for the presidency, announced his first campaign for the White House in 1987 at the train station in Wilmington.
According to the Amtrak website, the cost of chartering a private train begins at $30,000 and the journey must stick to existing rail routes. Biden’s campaign hasn’t publicly divulged how much their trip cost.
The Associated Press contributed to this article