To the contrary. It will be recalled by lots of voters for many decades.
Suppose that Donald Trump successfully pushes to get a family member the 2028 or 2032 presidential nomination. If Democrats complain about nepotism, the Republicans will say it is no worse than when Biden pardoned Hunter. And, to me, they will be correct.
Even if Vance is the next GOP nominee, this helps prolong the current era. Swing voters will not forget.
The Republicans will do whatever the hell they want and justify it however the hell they want no matter what Democrats do. We can’t keep playing by Queensbury rules when they’ve dipped their gloves in glue and broken glass and also have a shotgun.
Because a pardon and a Presidential nomination are essentially the same thing…
Whatever the electoral implications for the democrats I’m happy for Joe Biden. He deserves peace of mind wrt his family at this stage of life.
Pardon…I admit I do have a soft corner for Joe Biden.
To be more clear: I think many swing voters would see them as the same thing. I do not.
I have no real problem with, say, Robert Kennedy running for President when his brother was a martyred former POTUS. The disgrace comes when the power of the office is used to benefit your son.
How is it different from pardoning a friend/close associate/party member wrt pardoning a family member ? I feel the underlying premise is the same.
I guess we should all be thankful that Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Steve Bannon are merely co-conspirators and not blood relatives.
If Biden didn’t do it, the Republicans would still say that.
If its selling pardons for money then it’s a different issue altogether…this is just issuing a pardon and it is within the presidential powers and Joe exercised it.
The hypothetical question of what if Trump issues a pardon to his family member in the future should a need arise ? I guess now we on the left can’t complain.
So be it…it’s ok for me.
About time. I don’t think he gets prosecuted if his name isn’t Biden. Take off the gloves, Joe. Next step is to tell the FBI to investigate all of those dirtbags nominated for the next cabinet.
Complaining didn’t matter when Trump was pardoning his inner circle and selling pardons, so … so be it. Joe should absolutely shield as many as he can from the Trump Retribution Tour.
And this is not the first instance of a president issuing a pardon to a family member.
Bill Clinton issued a pardon for his half-brother Roger Clinton after he served a year in prison for pleading guilty to cocaine distribution charges.
So I’m ok with the Hunter Biden pardon…there is a precedent too.
I don’t approve.
But Joe Biden didn’t ask my opinion, nor is there any reason he should have. At this point it’s a shrug. The Bidens are sun-setting out of the body politic.
This may seem like a search for justification…whatever.
I’m feeling a bit more relaxed and it’s as if a weight lifted off my chest.
Sums my view up pretty well. And I don’t blame Joe for wanting to protect his son. He’s had enough family tragedy already.
Agree fully
Give it a rest. In 4 years it will be barely remembered. The only pardon that has EVER been an issue in a Presidential election was Ford pardoning Nixon.
It is debatable how much this hurt Ford in '76 but it certainly was not “recalled by lots of voters for many decades” and it is unlikely in the extreme that this one will be.
Biden did the correct thing and in 6 months it will be forgotten.
Regarding the forgotten part, a lot depends on what Pam Bondi does when Trump, maybe in late January, complains to her that she hasn’t locked up the Biden Crime Family yet. This should give us an early reading on how authoritarian Trump 47 will really be.
Do we know for sure that Joe Biden is only pardoning Hunter for charges that his son has already been on trial for?
Naw.
I concur- It was all politics. True, Hunter was guilty of the Tax Charges, but since he paid and apologized, he would never have gotten prison if he wasnt a Biden. He would have received a suspended sentence.
The Power of the MAGAs and the ex-president was used to hound Hunter. There was a solid and fair deal on the table before the MAGAs yelled and demanded Hunters head.
Joe would not have had to do this if the MAGAs hadnt made it political. Suspended sentence, fines and taxes paid, and done.
And oddly the Right wings opinion is that the Gun crimes were not constitutional anyway.