# Can and will Trump pardon all the DC rioters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 11, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249 "2021-01-11T11:42:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/21 "2021-01-11T16:33:45Z")
Given Trump’s narcissistic and sadist nature, I could believe that he gets a small thrill knowing that people are in jail because they fought for him and therefore won’t pardon them. That would ruin the narrative. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/22 "2021-01-11T17:16:59Z")
They’re of no further utility to him, so they’re off his mind. Does anyone else find it creepy and horrifying that Pence isn’t invoking the 25th when he was the intended hangee? ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/23 "2021-01-11T19:08:08Z")
Trump has only one concern ever: what benefits himself. He will pardon people if he needs their loyalty in the future (without regard to past loyalty). His rabid base doesn’t even want the people who stormed the Capitol pardoned, so there’s no benefit to Trump. He will not pardon them. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/24 "2021-01-11T19:30:06Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > His rabid base doesn’t even want the people who stormed the Capitol pardoned, I find this statement odd. Any evidence for it. I would have thought that his base believes they are great patriots and would be horrified to see them prosecuted. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/25 "2021-01-11T19:30:14Z")
Andrew Johnson issued a blanket pardon to ex-Confederates for the crime of treason shortly before he left office. It did not name individuals. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/26 "2021-01-11T19:53:55Z")
Well, good question. I’m basing my opinion on my Facebook friends who are die-hard Trump supporters. For several days, they flat denied that the people who stormed the Capitol were actually Trump supporters at all. Then they pointed out how they were QAnon, as if they’re not Trump supporters. But I think that’s the divider they’re using now, to separate themselves from the thugs. But they do view the people who invaded as the bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/27 "2021-01-11T20:05:44Z")
I can see that. Trump is getting so much heat for it that they’re trying to distance Trump from the rioters. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/28 "2021-01-11T20:06:11Z")
Another motivation for Trump which is as strong as self enrichment is pissing off anyone who opposes him. Pardoning the rioters would certainly do that. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/29 "2021-01-11T20:13:31Z")
Yeah, and these people have no problem at all with cognitive dissonance. If Trump decides to pardon them to antagonize and inflame, the right will find some convoluted way to rationalize that the violence was all Antifa, but innocent patriots got caught up in it and must be protected from prosecution. I think it’s kind of a toss-up. I’m not sure how worried Trump is about the impact on the probability of successful impeachment. If a Senate trial is 100 days away, that’s 99 days further than his capacity to plan ahead. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/30 "2021-01-11T20:22:41Z")
I’d say 4:1 odds that he actually does pardon them, and 100% certain that it’s come up at least once in private deliberations. Pardoning the rioters would own the libs very deeply, so I’m sure Trump is strongly considering it. However, (and I could be wrong), his political calculations must now involve many factors besides owning the libs, so it’s not a foregone conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/31 "2021-01-11T20:30:56Z")
Using words like “deliberations” and “calculations” to describe what’s happening in the White House right now seems overly generous. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/32 "2021-01-11T20:43:51Z")
He likes adulation. He likes to be magnanimous, if it doesn’t cost him anything. Julius Caesar was famous for his clemency, and his opponents hated it because they correctly identified it as the behavior of a would-be King: all mercy must come from him, as a personal favor. If he decides the political fallout won’t be bad (true or not), he will pardon them. It makes him a king. If he doesn’t, it will be because they looked trashy and he won’t want to claim them. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/33 "2021-01-11T23:32:34Z")
I believe Pence also has to have the support of the rest of the cabinet, doesn’t he? It’s not just a case of, “Okay, I’m invoking the 25th now.” I can’t stand Pence, and I’ll bet more than a few of his reasons are self-serving, but I’m not going to condemn him just quite yet. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/34 "2021-01-11T23:41:37Z")
It may also depend on charges. Pardoning trespassing on federal property is one thing. Pardoning (felony) murder of a law enforcement official is another. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/35 "2021-01-12T09:18:22Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Pardoning the rioters might get trump quickly back in the good graces of the fringe loonies who are feeling betrayed by trump’s latest video in which he denounced them; but it would make absolutely clear to establishment Republicans that he did and does support the events of January 6. Clear enough that they couldn’t continue to ignore his worst behaviors, even if they wanted to. Pardoning the rioters would definitely make a lot of Republicans uncomfortable and uneasy. Until Fox News begins its usual perverse historical rewrite, reframing the pardon as an attack on the liberals (“look how mad they are!”), and with their discomfort assuaged, the GOP would fall back into line. It would appear to be completely insane from the outside — it would _be_ completely insane — but it always works anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/36 "2021-01-12T12:53:24Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Ok, true, true. But actively inciting an insurrection upon the Capitol building, causing 5 deaths, is very very, horrifyingly bad in itself, **but his few remaining supporters** are trying to argue “but but but…he didn’t actually explicitly tell them to overrun the Capitol building”. (Bolding mine) Say what? His “few supporters” is well over 50 million people. They include hundreds if not thousands of state and municipal elected officials and law enforcement personnel. Over a hundred sitting US Representatives and a few fairly powerful Senators. A few? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/37 "2021-01-12T13:10:32Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Say what? His “few supporters” is well over 50 million people. They include hundreds if not thousands of state and municipal elected officials and law enforcement personnel. Over a hundred sitting US Representatives and a few fairly powerful Senators. > > A few? 🤨 Fine, strike the ‘few’, his remaining supporters. It _ **was** _ dismaying that so many members of Congress still voted to object after the riot. He _ **does** _ still have an alarming amount of support. But he did lose some. My point was not that he’s losing support, but that his remaining supporters who are still willing to publicly support him are already trying to rehabilitate his image, saying he didn’t really mean for a riot / insurrection to happen, he just wanted a peaceful First Amendment protest (though if you look at everything he said and did in the hours, days and months beforehand, that’s clearly bullshit). If he pardons the rioters though, that strips away even the spurious claim he did not support the riot. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/38 "2021-01-12T13:12:47Z")
That is just part of The Lie. Lies are an integral part of authoritarianism. They never stop. Ever. Yes, I agree with you that pardoning these folks would not go as well for Trump as might hope. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/39 "2021-01-12T15:30:30Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > It may also depend on charges. Pardoning trespassing on federal property is one thing. Pardoning (felony) murder of a law enforcement official is another. If it is not too much of a hijack, has anyone seen any reportage about this incident? If not video/pics of the area, at least a description of where the officer was stationed, at what point in the riot he was injured, and what efforts are being made to identify the perps? Seems there was more reportage of who stole a lectern… ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249/40 "2021-01-12T15:37:30Z")
That footage might not be as dramatic as people think. The officer made it to safety on his own to a recovery area before the seriousness of the blow started to become obvious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-and-will-trump-pardon-all-the-dc-rioters/930249.md?page=3)