CNN reporters and anchors said Monday that President Biden’s decision to forgive his relatives in the waning minutes of his reign his reputation was tarnished and was “a stain on his legacy”.
“Well, it turns out, Anderson, another promise has been broken. That’s exactly how he ultimately decided to approach the legal system. This is a decision that will raise so many alarming questions about the legal precedence this now has. And it really would have been one of the very last acts for President Biden as a sitting president,” CNN’s MJ Lee said, noting that. Biden had told CNN’s Jake Tapper in December 2020 that the US would not see a pre-emptive pardon in his administration, and that his approach to the justice system would be completely different from President Trump’s.
Biden’s pardon applies to James Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John Owens and Francis Biden, the White House announced during Trump’s inauguration ceremony. The now former president argued that his family could be subject to “politically motivated investigations” after he leaves office.
Lee previously said in her statement that this was another way the former president had tarnished his own legacy.
PRESIDENT TRUMP CALLS BIDEN LAST-MINUTE LIMITS ‘UNFORTUNATE’ AT SIGNING CEREMONY
President Joe Biden walks down the steps of Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. B (Susan Walsh/AP)
CNN commentator and “The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin argued during the discussion that family members’ pardons were “much muddier” than his last minute pardon from Liz Cheney, Gene. Mark Milley and Anthony Fauci.
“It’s just inappropriate,” said CNN anchor John King. “If you’re going to do it, have the courage to do it in the light of day and explain it to the American people. It’s a stain on his legacy to do it this way. We could argue about it, is that true? need, has Donald Trump promised retaliation? Yes, he did, if you are the President of the United States who said that Donald Trump’s curse was his disrespect for democracy and norms, have the courage to turn a blind eye. Look American people in the eye and explain what you are doing.”
Former Obama aide David Axelrod said the timing of the pardons seemed suspicious.
“The fact is that Trump has been saying this for a long time. That doesn’t explain why you put out a release in the last 10 minutes of your presidency, it just made the whole thing look tawdry,” Axelrod said.
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David Axelrod speaks during CNN on January 20, 2025. (Screenshot/CNN)
In December 2020, CNN host Jake Tapper asked Biden if he was concerned about rumors that Trump, whom he had just defeated, would issue a wave of preemptive pardons to some of his closest confidants.
“Well, it concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets in the way the rest of the world looks at us as a nation of laws and justice,” he said at the time.
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“You won’t see that kind of approach to pardons in our administration,” Biden added. “Also, you’re not going to see in our government the approach of making policy through tweets. You know, it’s going to be a completely different way that we approach the justice system.”
Nikolas Lanum and Anders Hagstrom of Fox News contributed to this report.
