John Fetterman agreed with several Americans who have said that Donald Trump should be next on the list for a presidential pardon, saying both Trump and Hunter Biden’s convictions were ‘weaponized for political gain.’
The liberal Pennsylvania Senator has gotten a reputation for bucking his own party but appears to be going against both sides in his take on Joe Biden’s shock lame duck pardon of his son.
He called the two Hunter convictions ‘politically motivated’ and said ‘the same thing was done with Trump with the New York case. And that was bulls*** too.’
Fetterman essentially called for a one-for-one trade, a Trump pardon in exchange for Hunter’s, saying the Alvin Bragg-led prosecutions have ‘degraded’ the justice system.
‘Now, collectively, I think it’s appropriate for both sides to receive a pardon,’ Fetterman added.
The Pennsylvania Senator showed disgust for what he said was liberals’ joy at seeing Trump as a convict.
‘I’m talking about the New York trial, and now the Democrats on our side, there were some that were gleeful calling, “Now he’s a convicted felon,” and those things,’ he said.
‘And now for our party, we were talking about criminal justice, and we are now talking about second chances and now, all of a sudden, now you’re like, “Well, he’s a convicted felon and all these things.”‘
He suggested that these trials are ‘crazy’ and make the justice system seem completely unfair.
‘I’m saying that that we cannot allow our nation to become — our institutions to be weaponized against our political enemy or a political side,’ he told NBC News.
Biden made the shock announcement Sunday night that he would issue a presidential pardon for his troubled son, calling his prosecution ‘selective’ and ‘unfair.’
He did so after the White House repeatedly denied he had plans to pardon his son, who will be pardoned for any crimes he may have committed ‘from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.’
Following the shock decision, many social media users have asked that Biden also pardon Trump, who was convicted in a hush money case in New York City over payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
They have argued that Trump is also facing politically-motivated cases and thus should be pardoned the same was Hunter was.
Venture capitalist Mike Solana wrote on X: ‘biden should just pardon trump now, tell pelosi to get f**ked, retire a legend
‘Of course Joe Biden is pardoning his son. You would do the same thing,’ another prominent commentator called Fischer King said.
‘What he should do at the same time is pardon Trump of all federal crimes, give a speech saying political lawfare must end – and then lean on governors to pardon Trump of any and all state crimes.’
A third X user added: ‘Biden says Hunter was prosecuted because of who he was, for political reasons.
‘Ok Joe. In that case, you should pardon Trump. What’s good for the goose…’
While many are demanding Trump’s pardon, only the Governor of New York can pardon that conviction because falsifying business records is a state crime.
Trump is also charged in a federal election interference cases as well as one in Georgia.
The pardon will cover both the gun charges and Hunter’s guilty plea in a tax case. CNN reported that the judges overseeing his cases will most likely cancel the sentencing hearings he was due to attend on December 12 for the gun case and December 16 for the tax case.
The broad pardon also absolves him of any crimes he may have committed between January 1 2014 and December 1 2024, which covers his entire tenure on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, as well as much of his other overseas work including in China.
Biden said as recently as June that he would not pardon his son.
‘From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,’ Biden said in a statement.
The president claimed that people are ‘almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form… It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.’
Biden raged against ‘several of my political opponents in Congress’ who he claimed made the charges a public spectacle ‘to attack me and oppose my election.’
He added that the plea deal Hunter, who has since pledged to ‘make amends’ for his crimes, agreed to with the Department of Justice was a ‘fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.’ But that deal fell through at the last minute under political pressure.
‘No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because is my son – and that is wrong,’ he continued.
Biden says that there has been an effort to ‘break Hunter’ and destroy what he says is five-and-a-half years of sobriety.
‘In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.’
The president didn’t shy away from pointing out that the love of his son guided his decision-making but stressed that he was being ‘fair-minded.’
‘Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.’
Hunter was last seen on holiday with his father and the rest of the Bidens on Nantucket in Rhode Island.
‘I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.’
Hunter released a statement of his own, credited to his full name, ‘Robert Hunter Biden.’
‘I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,’ he said.
‘Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends.’
‘In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages. In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded.’
‘I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.’
