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RNC 2020: Pam Bondi slammed for false allegations against Biden, a look at past scandal and her bond with Trump

Slamming Biden, Bondi said 'When you look at his 47-year career in politics, the people who benefited are his family members, not the American people'

The Republican National Convention 2020 saw former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi severely attacking Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, and slamming him for benefits to his "family members" instead of American citizens. In her six-minute prime time speech in Washington DC on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, she said, “When you look at his 47-year career in politics, the people who benefited are his family members, not the American people.”

Firing away a long set of accusations for nepotism, she added, “How many American families would be allowed to get away with this? Why should there be one standard for the elite political class, and another set of rules for the rest of us? When millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump, they knew he’d be different, and he is.” Her words are quite ironic especially when she said those words in support of US President Donald Trump. As per a Tampa Bay report, Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are top White House advisors and his campaign has allegedly paid his family business at least $2.3 million. Soon MSNBC national correspondent, Joy Reid, slammed her words and said: "Pam Bondi just stood up and gave what can only be described as a lying litany of false allegations against the Bidens. We were not given the text of this speech, though several other speeches were made available in advance."

Not just that, a string of similar tweets followed suit. Highlighting how Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump and Melania Trump were next in line to speak, one tweet read: "As Pam Bondi accuses the Bidens of nepotism, note the GOP speaker lineup beneath her." Another said, "Reminder: In 2013, the Trump Foundation gave $25,000 to Pam Bondi's campaign for reelection as attorney general. A month later, Bondi announced that Florida would not join other states suing Trump for fraud over Trump University, even though many alleged victims lived in Florida."

With thousands of people agitated by her remarks, here's a look at past scandals and accusations she has been embroiled in.

Born in Temple Terrace, Florida to father, Joseph Bondi, a city council member and then Mayor of Temple Terrace, she first started her career as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County, Florida, where she was an Assistant State Attorney. Bondi then resigned to seek the office of Attorney General of Florida. She has also been known for her involvement in controversial cases — in 2006, she prosecuted former Major League Baseball player, Dwight Gooden, for substance abuse and violating the terms of his probation and in 2007, Bondi prosecuted the defendants in Martin Anderson's death. In 2010, she defeated Democratic State Senator Dan Gelber to become the first female Attorney General of the State of Florida and stirred a huge controversy when she opposed same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights issues. However, when she was interviewed after the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016 about her sudden shift in LGBT views, she said she supported the gay community.

A Politico report details the entire incident. "I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here who are not fans of yours and who thought you were being a hypocrite,” CNN host Anderson Cooper said during an interview with Bondi. "You said in court that gay people, simply by fighting for marriage equality, were trying to do harm to the people of Florida." Defending herself by saying she was just upholding the constitution, she responded, "That’s what I was defending … I never said I don’t like gay people." She also added that her views on the gay community were on the website. "Actually, if you look at my website now we have hands clasped together, all different colored rainbow-hands."

Moreover, she has been criticized for contributions received from Donald Trump and his associates. She reportedly got a $25,000 donation from the Donald J Trump Foundation for And Justice for All, a political action committee (PAC). That controversy hadn't even ended and in 2016, Bondi endorsed Trump in the Florida presidential primary confessing she had been friends with Trump "for many years".

Back in 2016, she led "Lock Her Up" chants directed at the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton during the Republican National Convention and in 2020, she joined Trump's defense team for the Senate impeachment trial. At that time, Bondi made allegations that Biden and his son were involved in corruption in Ukraine but later, it was revealed that Lev Parnas — the man at the center of Trump's Ukrainian scandal who was indicted and accused of illegally funneling foreign money to top Republican politicians — had met Bondi several times in 2018

Clearly, Bondi's remarks and accusations have no base and her RNC 2020 speech seems to have drawn a lot of flak.