Biden Lets Trump Off the Hook
3rd December 2024
It’s the most sweeping presidential pardon since Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, a grant of clemency so broad that even Democrats were openly criticizing the president today. Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter drew criticism from all corners the day after he issued it, underscoring for posterity an unflattering aspect of his presidency: For all Biden’s insistence that the rule of law was of paramount importance and his talk about restoring democracy, in the end he made it much harder for his own party to hold President-elect Donald Trump to account.
In the most recent instance, Biden and his aides repeated the same line over and over when it came to Hunter Biden’s legal troubles: He’s not considering a pardon for his son. Even if the charges seemed harsher because Hunter was the president’s son, the president’s commitment to the justice system was such that he’d allow the process to continue.
Now, we’ve learned none of it was true. And it’s created a thorny political problem for the Democrats who are still in Washington and are charged with cleaning up Biden’s mess.
Already, Trump has signaled he’ll use Biden’s pardon of his son as justification for his own desire to pardon Jan. 6 rioters. Trump had been largely silent on the Jan. 6 issue since his victory, which had loyalists worrying about his commitment to the pardons. But on Sunday evening, he posted on Truth Social, “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?”
Joe Biden: “Screw the party, screw the country, I’m doing what’s best for me.”
Donald Trump: “What he said.”