NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
As Democrats, we are deeply disappointed President Joe Biden’s decision to grant a full and unconditional pardon to his son Hunter, who was convicted of multiple tax and gun charges.
To be clear, we are not denying the president’s absolute right to pardon anyone — including his son — nor are we necessarily challenging the president’s logic, but there are a number of reasons why we, and many other Democrats, think about it that way.
Politically, President Biden’s appointment as the nation’s highest official undermined the Democratic Party, as did Democrats’ objections to what President-elect Donald Trump and its allies plan to do business with the federal government.
What do we mean by this?
FEDERAL JUDGE ACCUSES PRESIDENT BIDEN OF ATTEMPTING TO ‘REWRITE HISTORY’ IN HUNTER BIDEN PARDON
At the most basic level, Democrats have long maintained that Trump and Republicans have undermined the rule of law, both during Trump’s first term and beyond.
The alleged threats that Donald Trump poses to democracy were a big part of that Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed campaign for president.
And while voters clearly did not see this as a make-or-break issue, this argument has great appeal to those who support and want to strengthen our democratic institutions.
President Biden has now toned down that argument significantly, not least because it also broke the president’s repeated promises that he would do so. not forgive his son.
Moreover, by reinforcing the idea that there are two standards of justice, one for the is the president’s son And one for everyone else: Biden has also given credence to Trump’s claims of a politicized justice system, further weakening Americans’ trust.
ANDREW McCARTHY: THE REAL REASON HUNTER BIDEN’S PARDON GOES BACK TO 2014
Put another way, Biden’s pardon for his son gives the lie to the claim that Democrats stand above Republicans in their commitment to the rule of law and being fair to the American people.
That’s why this decision was unpopular even among President Biden’s own party. Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis criticized it: proverb“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by subsequent presidents and will unfortunately tarnish his (Biden’s) reputation.”
Similarly, Democratic Senator Michael Bennett argued that “it further erodes Americans’ confidence that the justice system is fair and equal for all,” while fellow Democratic Senator Gary Peters called the pardon “an improper use of power.”
That said, this is more than just an argument about the impact of Biden’s actions or the differences between the two parties’ approaches to our democratic institutions.
It fundamentally hinders the Democratic Party’s ability to attack the way the president-elect is approaching his second term.
BIDEN GIVEN SON HUNTERS BIDEN BEFORE EXIT FROM OVAL OFFICE
For example, it is now difficult for Democrats to argue against Trump’s plans to appoint controversial nominees to his Cabinet through recess appointments, when a Democratic president has just undermined the fabric of our democracy with a full and unconditional pardon for his son, who belonged was convicted of a dozen criminal charges.
President Biden previously said he would not pardon his son, Hunter Biden, but did so anyway. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
It would have been much easier, and we dare say defensible, if Biden had commuted his son’s sentence with a dent. Hunter’s addiction and historical precedent. There was a basis for doing this.
We’re not sure this would have received widespread support. But it likely wouldn’t have received the same backlash as a full pardon for the crimes Hunter committed over the course of a decade.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS ADVICE
This seems to us to be overreaching and undermines the core of the democratic argument.
What President Biden just said to the American people is that he can do what he wants, when he wants, even if he promised not to do it.
By using the president’s unlimited pardon power in an overtly personal way, Biden has signaled that Democrats’ supposed commitment to democratic values is situational, rather than a commitment to the rule of law, however it applies.
Let’s hope that Hunter Biden’s pardon fades into history and that President Biden does not continue to use the pardon power indiscriminately. However, if President Biden wanted to issue one more pardon, one suggestion Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., offered would be to pardon Donald Trump.
This would obviously be mostly symbolic as the cases involving Trump are on the verge of being dismissed, but if Biden wants to heal rather than divide, this would be a good starting point.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Furthermore, ending the cases involving the former and ex-president would position the country to move forward and tackle more important challenges, such as the increasingly aggressive Russia-China-Iran axis, the Middle Eastinflation here at home, and more.
This would also demonstrate a level of equality and parallelism that would create an impression among the American people that our elected leaders are capable of working together and in the best interests of the country, two qualities that Americans deserve.
Robert Green is a principal at Pierrepont Consulting and Analytics LLC and brings 30 years of experience in research-based messaging insights. During his career, Green has supervised poll research for numerous political campaigns.
