President-elect Donald Trump is furious. After President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, Trump called the move “an abuse of power” and hinted at issuing pardons of his own once he returns to the White House. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to share his outrage. “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” he wrote.
President Biden shocked many on Sunday evening by granting clemency to Hunter Biden. This decision came after Biden had repeatedly promised not to interfere in his son’s legal troubles. Hunter was facing charges for not paying taxes on time and for owning a gun illegally for a short period in 2018.
Biden defended his decision, saying the charges were politically motivated. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them,” Biden said. He argued that these types of cases rarely lead to prosecution and called it a “miscarriage of justice.”
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Trump has not been shy about his own pardon plans. He has repeatedly promised to pardon supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. These include over 1,500 people charged with crimes, more than 500 of whom were accused of assaulting police officers. But he still remains defiant. He believes his supporters were treated unfairly and sees their actions as part of his broader political struggle.
David Weiss, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, led the investigation into Hunter Biden. Weiss originally tried to negotiate a plea deal for Hunter, but that deal collapsed after heavy criticism from Republicans. They accused Weiss of giving Hunter a “slap on the wrist.”
Hunter Biden’s case has been a major focus of Republican investigations. They even launched an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, using Hunter’s legal troubles as evidence of alleged corruption. Although the impeachment effort failed, Republicans released documents showing that more charges against Hunter were considered, including for failing to register as a foreign agent.
Biden may have felt his son was being unfairly targeted, especially with Trump set to take office again. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process,” Biden said.
Trump’s reaction to the Hunter pardon wasn’t surprising. He quickly turned it into a defense of his own actions. “If Biden can pardon his son, I can pardon my people,” he seems to suggest. But Trump’s past actions make it clear that he has always used pardons to reward loyalty. During his first term, he pardoned allies like Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, both convicted of crimes linked to Trump’s political scandals.
Both Biden and Trump are setting dangerous precedents. If this trend continues, presidential pardons may lose their original purpose of correcting injustices and instead become political tools. For now, the stage is set for more political drama. With Trump returning to the White House and promising controversial pardons, the country’s political divide is only getting deeper.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
