ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
Some Democrats frustrated over Joe Biden’s pardon of son, Hunter
Dec 2, 2024, 4:00 PM | Updated: 4:00 pm
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a World AIDS Day event on the South Lawn at the White House on December 1, 2024 in Washington, DC. Democrats now are grappling with President Joe Biden's pardoning of his son for federal crimes, with some calling the move misguided and unwise. (Annabelle Gordon/Getty Images)
(Annabelle Gordon/Getty Images)
Listen live👇 at 4:45
ATLANTA (AP) — Already reeling from their November defeats, Democrats are grappling with the pardon President Joe Biden issued for his son Hunter Biden. ome Democrats are calling the move misguided. They also say it was unwise after the party spent years slamming Donald Trump as a threat to democracy who disregarded the law.
The president pardoned Hunter Biden late Sunday evening. With the pardon, Biden reversed his previous pledges. The grant of clemency covers more than a decade of any federal crimes his son might have committed. The 82-year-old president said in a statement that his son’s prosecution on charges of tax evasion and falsifying a federal weapons purchase form were politically motivated.
“He believes in the justice system, but he also believes that politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Jean-Pierre, along with Biden and other White House officials, insisted for months that Hunter Biden would not get a pardon.
Unsatisfied with Biden’s explanation about Hunter Biden
That explanation did not satisfy some Democrats, angry that President Biden’s reversal over Hunter Biden could make it harder to take on Trump, who has argued that multiple indictments and one conviction against him were a matter of Biden and Democrats turning the justice system against him.
“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wrote of Biden on the social media platform X.
“When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation,” the governor continued, a reference to the president invoking fatherhood in explaining his decision. “Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”
Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., said on X: “This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
