In the wake of President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter, Democrats are looking for the lame-duck leader to set the stage to protect anyone who incoming President-elect Donald Trump may target.
After the bombshell pardon of Hunter Biden which was met with heavy criticism from both sides of the political aisle, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and her panel wondered why the president stopped there instead of protecting those who may be on Trump’s so-called enemies list.
“I just am curious for your perspective, because you have long time been a leader for — in criminal justice reform,” she said to CNN political commentator Van Jones on ” The Source with Kaitlan Collins” Monday. “You’ve led groups, you founded organizations that help people get pardons. So when you view this, and what Biden said in his decision to pardon Hunter Biden, what do you make of it?”
“Well, look, I’m not surprised, and I’m willing to give Biden a pass because his son is going to be sitting in federal prison, while Trump is pardoning — pardoning insurrectionists and all kind of stuff. At some point, this stuff just becomes very human,” Jones responded.
“My criticism of President Biden is different. He’s used the power of the pardon more sparingly, for people who are not his son than you would expect from a Democratic president. There’s been a lot of frustration in the criminal justice community that a lot more people could use that kind of relief,” he continued.
“In this case, look, he’s an elderly guy. He’s got a son that’s got a lot of trouble. If he wants to do himself a solid, on the way out the door, I’ll let other people scream about that,” Jones said. “But what about everybody else, who’s sitting there with actual miscarriages of justice, who’ve had no relief in the Biden administration? That’s a bigger problem for me.”
“Well, yes, Van, I mean, on that point, if you’re — if the point is about concerns that Trump is coming into office, and the people he’s appointing might target Hunter Biden even further than this, even though he was found guilty by a jury of his peers, I should note,” Collins interjected. “Why not pardon Andrew McCabe and Gina Haspel and Mark Esper.”
“And all these people that are on their target list, if you say that that’s why — that that’s the motivation here,” she added.
“Yeah, I mean — I mean, we’ve gone through this, down this rabbit hole now, where allegations of the justice system being politicized or being thrown around on both sides. I think it’s bad for the country,” Jones replied.
“I do think there should be a real process to pardon people. I think the Biden administration has been relaxed on that,” he contended.
“But if you’re going to do it, don’t just do it for your son. There are a lot of people that the Trump administration might go after. Protect them,” Jones urged. “And there are a lot of just everyday people, who have sitting there, been begging for relief for years and years. If you’re going to do it, don’t just do it for your son. There are a lot of American sons and daughters who could use the same kind of relief.”
Fox Business host Charles Payne seemed to echo the sentiments as he called out the alleged “huge double standard” of Biden’s pardon.
this is an unexpected moment. Wow. https://t.co/W4FqAqT7ar
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) December 3, 2024
