President Joe Biden is facing backlash from both Republicans and Democrats after he announced he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, despite previously stating he would not do so.
The president sent shockwaves through the political world on Sunday night when he announced his decision to grant his son clemency, claiming that Hunter had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” by the Department of Justice.
“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” Biden said.
With less than 50 days remaining in the White House, Biden’s decision has caused a stir on both sides of the political aisle.
Democratic Governor Jared Polis, who publicly called for Biden to step off the Democratic Party’s ticket in July, was among the first Democrats to voice their disapproval.
The Colorado governor used the president’s own words against him following Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in May, stating that “no one is above the law,” showing his disdain that the president had placed “his family ahead of the country”.
“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,” Polis wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation. When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation.”
He continued: “Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”
Polis wasn’t the only Democrat to hit out at the president, however.
“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong. This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers,” Greg Stanton, a Democratic representative from Arizona, wrote on X.
Trump was also quick to condemn his longstanding political rival, calling the move an “abuse and miscarriage of justice.”
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” he posted on Truth Social.
Kentucky Rep. James Comer — chair of the House oversight committee, which led the House GOP impeachment inquiry into the president last year — noted that Biden had “lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden.”
“The charges Hunter faced were just the tip of the iceberg in the blatant corruption that President Biden and the Biden Crime Family have lied about to the American people,” he continued.
Georgia Rep. and MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene chimed in on X: “This pardon is Joe Biden’s admission that Hunter is a criminal. Biden tried to throw President Trump’s sons in jail, but he lets his son off free even though he’s a convict.
“His FBI and DOJ raided Barron’s bedroom and Melania’s closet at Mar-a-Lago. Joe Biden is a liar and a hypocrite, all the way to the end.”
But others welcomed the president’s decision, arguing that Hunter had been unfairly treated by the Justice Department because he is the president’s son.
Former US Attorney General Eric Holder posted on X that the pardon is “warranted.”
“Here’s the reality,” he wrote. “No USAtty [attorney] would have charged this case given the underlying facts. After a 5 year investigation the facts as discovered only made that clear.
“Had his name been Joe Smith the resolution would have been — fundamentally and more fairly — a declination. Pardon warranted.”
Former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks agreed.
“I’m relieved and thrilled that he did it. This was one of the cases that called out for clemency,” she told MSNBC.
Hunter, 54, was convicted of federal gun charges in June and was due to be sentenced on December 12. He was also set to be sentenced on December 16 in a second case, after pleading guilty in September to federal tax evasion charges.
In a statement following his father’s announcement, Hunter spoke of his “mistakes” but claimed they had been weaponized to “publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”
He added: “I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”
