- The Washington Times - Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Commentator Stephen A. Smith suggested that having already issued a sweeping pardon for son Hunter Biden, President Biden should even the scales by doing the same for President-elect Donald Trump.

The outspoken sports and sometimes-politics journalist suggested that the bipartisan pairing would help a bitterly divided country “move forward.”

In an appearance on NewsNation, host Chris Cuomo told Mr. Smith that he would follow on the Hunter Biden move by also pardoning Mr. Trump, causing Mr. Smith to add “that’s exactly what I would do.”

“Enough’s enough,” Mr. Smith said. “You know what? You’re the Democrats. You lost the election. You got your butt whipped. You could’ve prevented him from going back to the White House. More than a dozen cases have been dropped against him, the cases that have been ruled against him, he’s going to appeal and he’ll probably get off from having to deal with all of that. It’s time to move forward.”

He added that the Democratic desire to “get at Trump” now means working on the 2026 midterm elections and judging “every single act” in his new four-year term rather than dredging up past acts and engaging in lawfare against him — a strategy that clearly just failed.

Mr. Smith cited the precedent of President Ford, who issued the last pardon as sweeping as Hunter Biden’s, pardoning former President Richard Nixon for “all offenses against the United States” during his presidency.

Ford was acting to de-escalate a vicious fight “for the good of the country,” despite the obvious personal political risk, Mr. Smith said, adding that this is a virtue in short supply now.

“A lot of times, these folks speak about this stuff, but they don’t do what they say they’re going to do and what they implore others to do,” he said, according to an account in the Washington Examiner.

Mr. Biden’s sweeping pardon of his son was issued Sunday night and absolves all “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in” over an 11-year period.

It was a clear reversal from months of public statements on the matter that Mr. Biden had made, and caused others to make on his behalf.

The president claimed his son was the victim of selective prosecution by his own Justice Department.

Any presidential pardon for Mr. Trump would be only partial though regarding his legal cases. Two of the four clusters of charges are in state courts, over which a president has no power. 

New York already has convicted him of falsifying business records to cover up hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and Georgia is accusing him of a racketeering conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in that state.

Both cases are on hold or appeal for varying reasons, though.

• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.

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