A number of Democrats in the Senate are condemning President Joe Biden’s move to pardon his son, Hunter Biden.
Republicans responded with expected outrage after the president announced the sweeping pardon on Sunday night, granting his son clemency after he was found guilty on federal gun charges in June and pleaded guilty to tax charges in September.
But more and more Democrats also began criticizing the president’s decision on Monday, going after the lame duck president in his last weeks in office. “President Biden’s decision put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all,” Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said in a post on X on Monday morning.
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Michigan Sen. Gary Peters called Biden’s decision “wrong” in a short statement posted on X. “A president’s family and allies shouldn’t get special treatment. This was an improper use of power, it erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the Wisconsin senator who just narrowly won her re-election campaign over a Republican challenger earlier this month, condemned the move in a statement sent to reporters.
Other senators said they sympathized with Biden’s point of view as a father, but still criticized his decision to grant his own son a pardon. “President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter is, as the action of a loving father, understandable—but as the action of our nation’s Chief Executive, unwise,” Vermont Sen. Peter Welch said in his own statement.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine told local station WSET he was “disappointed” Biden broke his promise to not pardon his son. “We all need to follow the rule of law, even—especially—when it’s hard for us personally.”
Maggie Hassan, the Democratic senator from New Hampshire, was similarly disappointed. “I wish the president had kept his word,” she told WMUR.
But the White House has so far defended the move, including the decision to issue Hunter sweeping clemency for crimes committed for a period of almost 11 years. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the congressional Republicans’ years of investigations and political pressure on the first son played a role in Biden’s decision.
“He didn’t believe that they would let up,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at a press briefing in Angola on Monday, adding that Biden believed they “would continue to go after his son.”
Some Democrats have come out in support of the decision, including Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett. “I will say ‘way to go, Joe,’” the congresswoman told MSNBC on Monday morning.
But other Democratic elected officials outside of the Senate joined in the chorus of condemnation. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was one of the first elected Democrats to condemn the move, writing in his own post: “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. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation.”
“Democrats should have been for reforming and curtailing pardon power from Day 1 of the Biden Presidency,” wrote Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a progressive leader who once co-chaired Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 primary campaign against Biden. “As a father, I empathize with President Biden, but we must be the party of reform whether it’s about the archaic pardon power, opposing super PACs or broad war powers,”
