Furious Joe Biden vows that Donald Trump will not destroy him amid Ukraine impeachment scandal

Hours after Donald Trump described Joe Biden as 'stone-cold crooked,' the leading Democratic contender in the 2020 race for the White House, vowed that the Republican president is 'not going to destroy me'.

Let me make something clear to Trump and his hatchet men and the special interests funding his attacks against me, Biden said in prepared remarks distributed by his campaign in advance of an appearance in Reno, Nevada, on Wednesday night.

I'm not going anywhere. You're not going to destroy me. And you're not going to destroy my family.

Trump's most recent political crusade has involved a tar-and-feather operation against the Bidens, based on unproven claims that they used the vice presidency to turn a profit through Hunter's business deals in China and Ukraine.

I have a duty to report corruption and let me tell you something, Biden's son is corrupt and Biden is corrupt, Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office Wednesday.

I think Biden has never been a smart guy and he's less smart now than he ever was.

Biden said Wednesday in Las Vegas that there is 'zero' evidence he engaged in any 'corrupt' activities with Ukraine, where he once used $1billion in US loan guarantees as bait to force the firing of a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company where his son held a lucrative board seat. 

The president has repeatedly accused the pair of wrongdoing without providing any evidence.