Congressional Republicans and conservative commentators raged on Sunday night after President Joe Biden announced he was issuing a sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter Biden—thwarting years-long efforts to prosecute the first son who became the favorite enemy for many on the right.
MAGA’s reaction was immediate as Biden announced his surprising move just days before Hunter was scheduled to be sentenced in separate federal gun and tax cases.
“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities,” wrote Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chair of the House Oversight Committee responsible for leading the investigation into Hunter’s business dealings, in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden.”
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Comer called the charges against Hunter the “tip of the iceberg”—although his lengthy investigation into both the president and his son’s finances resulted in no recommended charges for either Biden.
Multiple other Republicans involved in the House’s efforts to investigate the first son joined Comer in the outrage. “Democrats said there was nothing to our impeachment inquiry,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote in his own post on X. “If that’s the case, why did Joe Biden just issue Hunter Biden a pardon for the very things we were inquiring about?”
Although Biden’s pardon specifically gave his son clemency for “all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss,” it had more broad language pardoning him for offenses committed in an almost 11-year period from January 2014 through December 2024.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who also sat on the Oversight Committee, insisted that the pardon was an “admission” of guilt on behalf of Hunter.
Greene also repeatedly accused the Justice Department of trying to prosecute Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, but provided no further context for the claim.
For his part, Eric Trump posted in response, “Don’t worry about the 112 subpoenas I have received over the past 8 years.”
Don Jr., meanwhile, wrote, “Everyone knew he was going to do it. He was just going to do it when it was if no consequence to democrat electability.”
Multiple other commentators, including pollster Nate Silver and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, harped on Biden for flip-flopping on his decision to pardon his son.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), both Trump and former President Obama’s former White House physician, did the same while calling Hunter the president’s “CRACKHEAD SON” in a particularly angry post.
“Biden and his admin are DISGRACEFUL LIARS!!” Jackson raged.
While he was still running for re-election, Biden insisted he would not issue a pardon for Hunter. During a June interview with ABC News, Biden answered affirmatively that he would respect the jury’s outcome of Hunter’s then-upcoming trial on gun charges, and he would not seek to pardon his son.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said that the president was not considering a pardon for his son, as recently as a press conference on November 7.
“We’ve been asked that question multiple times,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “Our answer stands, which is no.”
The decision also came with blowback from some members of Biden’s own party.
“While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” wrote Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a libertarian Democrat who has frequently bucked the party line. “This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”
“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong,” Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) said on X. “This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
