Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter, has stirred controversy among both Republicans and Democrats. Republicans are accusing Biden of hypocrisy, while Democrats are concerned that the pardon might undermine efforts to hold Donald Trump accountable.
The announcement came as a surprise to Washington, especially since Biden had promised to restore integrity to a justice system that many Democrats believed had been tainted by Trump’s influence. Biden had also explicitly stated that he would not pardon his son.
Despite these assurances, the president granted a ‘full and unconditional’ pardon to Hunter Biden on Sunday. This pardon clears Hunter, who is 54 years old, of any legal repercussions stemming from his recent convictions related to guns and taxes.
Biden argued that his son had been targeted in a politicized prosecution launched under the Trump administration and that ‘there’s no reason to believe it will stop here.’
People DailyMail.com spoke to in New York City appeared to be mostly against Biden’s actions with few surprised that he issued the pardon.
‘I wouldn’t pardon my own daughter,’ said one woman. ‘I don’t think any president should be pardoning family members. There has to be some kind of committee that does it.’
‘It doesn’t sound right,’ said another in the fall sunshine on Monday. ‘He had said that he wasn’t going to pardon his son, and then he did.’
Another New Yorker had a more pragmatic approach to the situation.
‘If we are pardoning crackheads, then okay, whatever. You know, if you break the law, do the time,’ the man reasoned. ‘Or don’t break the law? I don’t think anybody should be pardoned.’
‘This is horrible and embarrassing,’ added another. I suppose you’ve got to do what you can while you’re still there,’ seemingly giving Biden an allowance.
‘Who among us could say they wouldn’t pardon their son as president?’, asked one woman ‘It does feel like a short-sighted move on Joe Biden’s part.’
Another member of the public was more concerned about the effect it might have on the incoming administration.
‘We’re trying to gear ourselves up to resist Trump and authoritarianism – and then to have the Democrats with such blatant corruption… I think it’s emboldening even more corruption by the Republicans,’ he said.
One man wasn’t surprised at all by Biden’s actions and had a more cynical response.
‘It’s hypocrisy. You know, he said he wouldn’t do it. He didn’t adhere to his promise. Typical politician.’
While politicians typically pay lip service to the importance of independent law enforcement, Democrats and Republicans offer different justifications for suspicion of the Justice Department and presidents of both stripes have protected allies.
Trump wielded the pardon power liberally in favor of convicts with whom he had personal relationships, including his daughter’s father-in-law Charles Kushner, his friend Roger Stone and his 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Biden announced Hunter’s pardon in a statement arguing that the charges against his son were brought in a process infected with ‘raw politics.’
Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury in June of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun and pleaded guilty in a separate tax evasion trial in September.
The president and his team had been adamant that he would not pardon his son, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre making the claim as recently as November 7.
Charges for the gun offense are rare, and the president – in language that CNN likened to Trump’s rhetoric on law and order – argued that his own Justice Department had been wielded unfairly for political purposes.
Seeking to justify his about-face, Biden said that ‘Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.’
But Republicans argued that the pardon demonstrated that the sitting president, and not his incoming replacement, was politicizing the system.
Meanwhile Democrats worried that Trump would use Biden’s action to justify pardoning rioters jailed after the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol.
‘Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?’ Trump wrote in a post on his platform, Truth Social, on Sunday. ‘Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!’
Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis said Biden’s son had brought his legal woes on himself and accused the president of having ‘put his family ahead of the country.’
‘This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,’ Polis posted on X. ‘When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation.’
Political scientist Nicholas Creel, of Georgia College and State University argues however that nothing Biden does before leaving office will affect the actions of a successor who ‘simply does not care about precedent.’
‘Trump was never going to need an excuse to do whatever he wants once he takes office,’ he said.
‘So while I’m sure we’ll get plenty of pundits claiming that Biden pardoning his son opens the door for Trump to use his pardon power in overtly personal and political ways, I find it laughable that this wasn’t always going to be the case.’
