The United States Reacts To Joe Biden Pardoning His Son, Hunter

With only a few weeks left in office, President Joe Biden announced on December 1, 2024, that he was issuing a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden. Just about everyone had something to say about it, and most of it was critical.

Hunter was convicted in federal court twice, once in June and again in September. The first conviction stemmed from the president's son lying about his drug use on a form he filled out so he could purchase a gun. In September, Hunter pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges.

Hunter was awaiting sentencing in both cases and was likely to face jail time. President Biden had been asked multiple times after Hunter's first conviction whether he would pardon his son; he said at the time that he wouldn't. He said in a June Press Conference: "I'm not gonna do anything. I said I'd abide by the jury's decision. I will do that, and I will not pardon him" (via Bloomberg Television/YouTube). 

President Biden's initial promises not to pardon came back when the president was still a candidate for re-election; he dropped out in late July. Now that the election is over, the sitting president has changed his tune. He said in a statement published on the Whitehouse website on December 1: "The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. ... 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."

Those political opponents President Biden referred to responded with all the fire and fury you might expect. President-elect Donald Trump, who issued quite a few controversial pardons for friends and family members of his own at the end of his first term, brought up the people who have been convicted for the January 6, 2021 riot at the capital. Trump wrote on Truth Social, "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!"

Plenty of other Republicans echoed the president-elect's sentiments. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, formerly the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, latched on to President Biden's promise that he wouldn't pardon Hunter Biden, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "I'm shocked Pres Biden pardoned his son Hunter bc he said many many times he wouldn't & I believed him Shame on me."

House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed on X that this was just one example of the sitting president and his son's mishandling of the justice system: "Trust in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse of it. Real reform cannot begin soon enough!"

Plenty of other Republican lawmakers said similar things. Representative James Comer of Kentucky, head of the House Oversight Committee, even referred to the "Biden Crime Family" in his statement posted on X.

Perhaps the most damaging statement came from Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Special Agent Joe Ziegler, two IRS whistleblowers who worked on the Hunter Biden case for years. Their statement on X read, in part: "It is a sad day for law abiding taxpayers to witness this special privilege for the powerful."

Even some of President Biden's political allies questioned his decision. Democratic Representative Glenn Ivey of Maryland told CNN that, while he understood why the president's reasons, "A pardon, at this point, will be used against, I think, Democrats when we're pushing to defend the Department of Justice" (via YouTube).

Governor Jared Polis of Colorado went in even harder on X, writing, "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." Political analyst Nate Silver, who said he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris in the election, called President Biden a "selfish and senile old man" in a long string of X posts criticizing the pardon.

That said, others defended President Biden's decision. Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Barack Obama, wrote on X of Hunter: "Had his name been Joe Smith the resolution would have been — fundamentally and more fairly — a declination. Pardon warranted."