President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son is not sitting well with two Democratic allies.
Over the weekend, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) both questioned whether the president ignored America’s best interests when he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, earlier this year. month.
During a Sunday appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sanders worried that President Biden may have set a “dangerous” precedent by overruling his son’s criminal convictions and offering sweeping protections against future prosecutions with his executive order.
“I think two things: If his opponents are going after his family, as a father, as a parent, I think we can all understand that Biden is trying to protect his son and his family,” Sanders told host Kristen Welker.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Washington, DC, on September 17, 2024. In a Sunday interview, he questioned the precedent President Biden set in pardoning his son earlier this month. Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
“On the other hand, I think the precedent that is being set is quite dangerous,” he continued. “It was a very public pardon that could, under different circumstances, lead to problems in terms of future presidents.”
However, Sanders told Welker that he did not think the controversial pardon would be enough to tarnish Biden’s “strong legacy.”
Klobuchar had broader concerns about Biden’s loose, last-minute use of his executive authority when he stopped by “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
The Minnesota senator told host Margaret Brennan that she disagreed with both Biden’s decision to pardon his son and his decision Friday to issue a record number of commutations for 1,500 other Americans.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), here in April 2023, said she disagreed with Biden’s decision to pardon his son while appearing on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. Alex Wong via Getty Images
Klobuchar called for more oversight and said she believes pardons and commutations should go through a board of outside advisers, rather than people in the White House “just doing it in the middle of the night.”
“This makes no sense to me,” she added.
Sanders and Klobuchar are now among the most prominent members of the Democratic coalition to criticize Hunter Biden’s pardon.
While some critics have focused on the precedent set by the president’s decision, defenders have highlighted how Donald Trump issued several controversial pardons just before leaving office in 2021.
At the end of his first term, Trump offered legal reprieves to high-profile allies like Roger Stone and Steve Bannon, as well as Charles Kushner, the father of the new president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
