The decision, which was first reported by NBC News, is a reversal for the president, who repeatedly said he would not use his authority to pardon his son or commute his sentence.
Summary
President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, reversing his prior stance against using executive clemency.
The pardon covers Hunter’s federal gun conviction and tax evasion guilty plea, sparking political controversy.
Biden cited political attacks and a “miscarriage of justice” as reasons for his decision, emphasizing his son’s recovery from addiction and the targeting of his family.
Critics argue the move undermines the judicial process, while supporters view it as within Biden’s constitutional powers.
This decision shields Hunter from potential prison time as Biden nears the end of his presidency.
Why should Democrats continue taking the high ground now? Americans just overwhelmingly voted for blatant corruption. Nothing matters anymore. No reason for Dems to play it straight when they already tried that and Americans didn't respect it.
Yeah, and this is just nepotist corruption to boot. It's not like it is consciously leveraging the corruption within the system to put power into the hands of people that need and/or deserve it.
Yeah, and this is just nepotist corruption to boot.
Trump pardoned. Did you care this much when he did? So do most presidents.
Would you leave your son in prison for a non-violent crime after a criminal becomes president and explicitly stated he would target his political opponents?
We live in a country where a president's son, who is not involved in politics, was targeted and convicted for a non-violent crime while a convicted felon and rapist who instigated a violent insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election not only got to walk free, but became president again.
Nothing matters now. Let's stop pretending like it does.
Yeah, hard disagree on that. I was always against holding a false moral high ground and for using all means available to empower the working class. And that has mattered, matters, and will continue to matter. Only, the Democrats aren't doing that. Sure, I can sympathise with Biden and I barely even know why Hunter was so targeted, I paid little attention to it. The thing remains - it is just protecting his own family, when he could do a lot more for people outside of his close circle with his last moments in office - in theory, at least, if he wasn't just another Milquetoast Democrat.
he could do a lot more for people outside of his close circle with his last moments in office
Why should he? He was a good president, by virtually every metric, and the American people told him (and his party) to fuck off and re-hired an utter failure who attempted to dismantle our democracy, raped someone, committed felonies, and threatens our economic future.
We don't really deserve to be treated well. Our behavior doesn't warrant it. I'm totally fine giving this guy a small private win before he retires. Fuck us. We deserve to suffer.
If we're going to embrace corruption, it should at least be in order to forward a good cause. This is just Biden trying to protect his son. A human reaction for a father, sure, but hardly what we should be cheering on.
You can't win without being corrupt in America. The more openly corrupt, the more likely you are to win. That was just proven a few weeks ago. Gotta play as dirty as your opponent to win in America.
It’s a shitty end to a shitty presidency.
Lol. If you think this was a shitty presidency, you simply weren't paying attention. Guy was one of the most progressive presidents we've seen in modern history and we were on the path to recovery by every metric. It was certainly not a "shitty" presidency. If you need me to elaborate more on why, I'd be more than happy to.
You can’t win without being corrupt in America. The more openly corrupt, the more likely you are to win. That was just proven a few weeks ago. Gotta play as dirty as your opponent to win in America.
My point is that pardoning his son does nothing to help us win. He's playing dirty, sure, but not for us.
Lol. If you think this was a shitty presidency, you simply weren’t paying attention. Guy was one of the most progressive presidents we’ve seen in modern history and we were on the path to recovery by every metric. It was certainly not a “shitty” presidency. If you need me to elaborate more on why, I’d be more than happy to.
Man, he had okay policy that ended on a note of losing the fucking country to fascism. He hesitated at every progressive turn under the presumption that moderation was the path to victory, and then lost. If he'd been a contributor to our victory, or at least not an obstacle, I'd grant him much higher marks, but he didn't. It was a shitty presidency.
My point is that pardoning his son does nothing to help us win.
Yeah, but who cares? Why does it have to have anything to do with us? His political opponent openly stated he would go after his political opponents if he won. That's a threat against him and his son. It's totally understandable for Biden to protect his son under those circumstances. It's also not abnormal at all. Presidents pardon people, including real asshole pieces of shit, all the time at the end of their terms. Trump pardoned Roger Stone. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. Despite right wing propaganda, Biden was a solid president. And America told him and his party to fuck off and re-hired a twice impeached convicted felon and rapist who incited an insurrection and illegally attempted to overturn an election. Biden doesn't owe us anything. We were assholes to Biden. How pathetic is it of us to whine about him helping us now at the very end, after we fucked him over? I'm totally fine with him having this small personal win and then retiring.
he had okay policy
It was more than OK. He was a STRONG president for workers. For unions. We have less inflation than almost any other country on the planet after a global pandemic.
that ended on a note of losing the fucking country to fascism.
Excuse me. How is this Joe Biden's fault and not the fault of Americans? It seems like you want to place the blame that belongs squarely on Americans on Joe Biden's shoulders. Joe Biden isn't some scapegoat, despite America trying to make him one. It's not Joe Biden's fault Americans are stupid and irresponsible.
People with principles, I would suppose, might object to personal corruption with no gain for the general public.
It was more than OK. He was a STRONG president for workers. For unions. We have less inflation than almost any other country on the planet after a global pandemic.
He was the strongest pro-labor president of my lifetime.
The issue is that's a very low bar. I hold by my stance that he had okay policy. He wasn't particularly radical. And that would be okay, except that in eschewing radicalism in order to cultivate a moderate image, everything he did is going to be piss-easy to reverse now that he lost the country to a literal fucking fascist.
Excuse me. How is this Joe Biden’s fault and not the fault of Americans? It seems like you want to place the blame that belongs squarely on Americans on Joe Biden’s shoulders. Joe Biden isn’t some scapegoat, despite America trying to make him one. It’s not Joe Biden’s fault Americans are stupid and irresponsible.
Man, Biden had internal polling reading a total electoral massacre back at the start of the year and chose to ignore it until his own party forced him out. Fuck him. Stalling until the last minute very well may have been the difference between victory and defeat, and now we're sitting here wondering if we still will have elections in any meaningful sense in four fucking years.
Fuck him.
Fuck our fellow Americans in the electorate. They're guilty, even moreso, arguably, for allowing fascism to win. But fuck Biden too.
Principles don't win in America. And you can call it personal corruption while someone else calls it protecting their son from a proto-fascist leader that specifically targeted him and made it clear he'd go after his political opponents.
he lost the country to a literal fucking fascist.
No he didn't. Americans did. Why does it all always have to be Biden's fault? Is personal responsibility not a thing anymore? Something bad happens. Biden's fault. Nah, Americans failed. Not Biden.
Man, Biden had internal polling reading a total electoral massacre back at the start of the year and chose to ignore it until his own party forced him out. Fuck him.
Lol. Go ahead and Google "US presidents who didn't seek re-election". There are none in the modern era. The fact he did it at all is impressive. Was it late in the game, yeah. The main complaint was that he was old. But so was the dipshit that just won, so that's not a great argument against him. Personally, I don't think it would have made a difference. Americans are stupid and don't understand inflation or its causes. They vote with their wallet and got mad because prices are high and they're too stupid to grasp that prices are high for the rest of the world too and we're actually doing well compared to most other countries. Trump was probably going to win no matter what.