President Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter in his final full month in the White House is threatening to erode his legacy as he prepares to leave office.
He also expressed concern that the incoming Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress would continue to target Hunter Biden.
“Enough is enough.” Biden and his top aides said repeatedly during Hunter Biden’s legal troubles that the president would not pardon his son, including as recently as Nov. 7, after President-elect Trump won a second term.
Others noted Trump himself had expressed an openness to a pardon for Hunter Biden when asked about the idea in late October.
Some experts cautioned against assuming Biden’s use of the pardon power on his son would be a lasting image of his presidency, however.
As he gets ready to leave office, President Biden’s choice to pardon his son Hunter during his last full month in office threatens to damage his legacy.
After navigating the end of a once-in-a-generation pandemic, Biden is expected to end his one-term as president with a number of noteworthy legislative accomplishments and a fundamentally sound economy. However, his last few months, which included his decision to pardon Hunter Biden after repeatedly stating he would not and his refusal to withdraw his reelection bid until late July, are clouding the Biden presidency.
Presidential historian and biographer Alexis Coe said, “It’s been amazing to see Biden cast a long shadow over his many accomplishments in office simply by acting as many presidents do, which is from a place of an outsized ego.”.
Everything that followed would have been near the end of Biden’s biography, according to Coe, if he had exited the race in 2022 on a high note following the midterm elections. He has served the public throughout his life. Since the pardon will be one of many factors that dominate the rest, practically everything he has accomplished will now be crammed into the beginning. I would really like to be mistaken. “.”.
As he left for a week-long vacation in Africa, the president made the surprise announcement late Sunday that he was completely pardoning his son Hunter Biden, clearing him of a conviction on federal gun charges and a guilty plea on federal tax charges.
Politicians were shocked by the decision, which drew criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats.
Critics pointed out that Biden had stated repeatedly over the course of months that a pardon for his son was not possible and that the president had emphasized throughout his tenure in office the value of upholding the rule of law and the independence of the judicial system.
After four years of a Trump administration that routinely disregarded regulations and injected politics into investigations, Biden’s regard for institutions, and the Justice Department in particular, was viewed as particularly valuable.
Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian at Columbia University and a former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, said, “It’s just unfortunate that the president, in his attempt to protect his son, has left his own legacy so vulnerable.”.
“This enhances the general cynicism about politics and our national institutions among Republicans, but I believe some Democrats as well,” he continued.
Sen. D-Colo’s Michael Bennet. was among the Senate Democrats who applauded Biden’s action. Biden’s choice “put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all,” according to a post by Bennet on X. “”.
Previously, Elie Honig, a U. S. . While acknowledging that there was a “reasonable argument” that Hunter Biden was treated differently due to his name, the lawyer, who is currently an analyst for CNN, stated on the network that the pardon could negatively impact Biden’s legacy.
Let’s not mince words: Joe Biden lied to us for a very long time. He stated unequivocally, “I will not pardon my own son,” Honig remarked. “I’ll take it off the table,” he said. And using very lofty language, he said, “I respect the jury’s verdict, I respect the Justice Department.”. Now, he has retracted that. “.”.
In his remarks on Sunday, Biden contended that “raw politics” had tainted his son’s cases and that his son would not have been charged with a gun if his name had not been Hunter Biden.
He was also worried that Hunter Biden would be singled out by the incoming Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. Trump declared he would appoint loyalist Kash Patel, who has vowed to pursue those thought to have wronged him, to head the FBI the day before the president made the pardon announcement.
“They’ve tried to break me in an attempt to break Hunter, and there’s no reason to think it will stop here,” Biden stated. “Enough is sufficient. “.”.
Even as recently as November, Biden and his top aides stated time and again during Hunter Biden’s legal issues that the president would not pardon his son. 7, following Trump’s reelection to a second term.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One Monday that the president “agonized over” and “wrestled” with the decision. “.”.
“There could be two possibilities,” Jean-Pierre stated. The president does have faith in the Department of Justice and the legal system. Additionally, he feels his son was singled out for political favors. “.”.
Jean-Pierre cited additional legal professionals who supported Biden’s conduct, such as former Attorney General Eric Holder, who referred to the pardon as “warranted.”. “”.
“The resolution would have been – fundamentally and more fairly – a declination – had his name been Joe Smith,” Holder wrote on X.
Others pointed out that when Trump was questioned about the possibility of pardoning Hunter Biden in late October, he himself had indicated that he was amenable to it.
“Trump doesn’t follow the rules. violates the law. Former South Carolina state lawmaker Bakari Sellers wrote on X, “He would have pardoned Hunter and called you a coward for not doing it.”.
Following a significant and politically challenging final year in the White House, Biden received the pardon.
Democrats cried for Biden to resign after he gave a terrible debate performance in late June. In late July, he finally decided to withdraw from the race for reelection, giving Vice President Harris just over 100 days to run against Trump.
In November’s election, Harris lost badly, and some Democrats blamed Biden for allowing her to lose by running for a second term in spite of the White House’s repeated dismissals of his age.
However, some experts warned against assuming that Biden’s use of the pardon power on his son would stick as a legacy of his presidency. They cited his efforts to mend international ties between Trump and his opponents as potentially significant, and some of his legislative accomplishments, like the Inflation Reduction Act or the CHIPS and Science Act, are anticipated to pay off investments in the years to come.
“He defeated Trump even though he didn’t prevent him from regaining power. He was a champion of the rule of law. According to political historian and George Washington University professor Matt Dallek, “he did try to restore trust and faith in the electoral process for the majority of his presidency.”.
“He may well be remembered as the last president of the post-World War II era when America was interventionist, believed in international alliances, and committed to being a leader everywhere, for better or worse,” Dallek stated. Furthermore, I’m not sure if the pardon will alter his advocacy for democratic norms in general. “”.
