Three former aides to President Obama went on the rampage President Biden for “lying” and making his defenders “look like they’re full of s—” by pardoning his son Hunter after previously saying he wouldn’t.
Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor, who were often referred to as the “Obama bros” during their tenure in the White House, discussed the impact of Biden’s pardon of his son on their “Obama Bros.”Pod Save America” podcast on Tuesday.
Vietor said he understood Biden’s decision on a “human level” but was frustrated that the president had made his defenders within the Democratic Party look “stupid” by reneging on his promise not to pardon his son.
“Now everyone looks stupid. Everyone looks like they’re full of s—,” Vietor said. “And the Republicans are going to use this to argue that it was politics as usual when Democrats warned about Trump’s corruption or the threat to rule or the threat to democracy. And I think this is the part that I’m most frustrated with, which is Joe Biden. looks like a typical one lying politician. And I think that leads to the cynical feeling that all politicians are bad. They’re all the same and that’s just the most natural thing in the world.”
TAPPER SAYS BIDEN LIE ABOUT HUNTER LEAVING HIS ADMINISTRATION AND MAKES ALLIES ‘LOUD OR COMPLICIT’
President Joe Biden speaks to reporters outside St. Edmonds Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Del., after attending a Mass, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Biden had “damaged his own reputation” and “the reputation of the Democratic Party,” Vietor added.
Fellow co-host Jon Favreau called it “very annoying” that Biden chose to pardon his son and not “a whole group of other people who were just public servants doing their jobs,” as Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Favreau said he believed Biden when he said he would not pardon his son and that he now felt like a “fool.”
“I believed him. I feel like a damn fool, that makes me angry about it,” he admitted.
The president’s pardon came after the first son was convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year.
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Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor at Politicon at the Pasadena Convention Center on July 29, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (John Sciulli/Getty Images for Politicon)
The younger Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in September and was convicted of three gun crimes in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
The pardon spares Hunter Biden from his upcoming sentencing in the two cases, but also covers any possible crimes he “committed or may have committed” from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024.
Lovett feared the sweeping pardon would give Republicans ammunition to argue that Biden acted to protect himself from accusations from which he benefited of his son’s business activities when he was vice president.
“Of course conservatives will say, ‘See? Joe Biden is only protecting himself,’” Lovett noted.
The former Obama aides said there was no evidence Biden benefited, but the appearance of it was nevertheless damaging to the Democratic Party’s reputation.
President Biden broke his repeated promise not to pardon his son Hunter by announcing Sunday that he would pardon him. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden should have framed the pardon as a proactive measure against concerns that President-elect Donald Trump would target his political enemies, Lovett argued.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
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Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
