On Sunday, as Townhall has been covering, President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, prompting a swift and severe reaction, even and including from his fellow Democrats. While the mainstream media is typically full of Democratic allies, in this instance, even some of those who have typically been friendly to the Biden-Harris administration haven't been able to hide how they really feel. The president and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, as many pointed out, have repeatedly told lies when it comes to Biden issuing a pardon.
Chris Cillizza, formerly of CNN, reacted quite strongly on X on Sunday and also put out a video message.
As an animated Cillizza reminded in just one of his posts, Biden "spent much of the last year through spokesmen people and himself, saying that there was no way he was going to pardon Hunter Biden, that the justice system had to work its will, that he did not want to interfere, because he was not like Donald Trump."
Cillizza also posted on X that this pardon "will have echoes – backward and forward," and that "it taints [Biden's] legacy," especially with the "layup" it gives Republicans.
A colossally selfish decision that will allow every Trump supporter to note that Democrats say one thing and do another https://t.co/vvQ8GkC14l
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) December 2, 2024
Joe Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter, will have echoes -- backward and forward.
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) December 2, 2024
Backward because it taints his legacy. It will be in the 1st or 2nd paragraph of his obit.
Forward because now every single Republican will have a layup when it comes to defending Trump’s… pic.twitter.com/wLB4CwgrCF
On Monday, Cillizza also spoke with NBC News' Chuck Todd, who was similarly animated in expressing what a mistake Biden had made. Todd shared he "followed the Hunter Biden trial very closely." He especially expressed anger for the transcript of Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden's brother, Beau, noting "essentially [Hunter] turned into a crack addict," which was going on in 2017 and 2018. Todd also went on to throw Joe Biden and Jill Biden right under the bus for how they handled the situation, noting they "were so concerned about their family, that they decided to run for president," with Cillizza concurring.
"So when you talk about the word 'selfish,'" Todd continued, using a term Cillizza had used at length, "it's almost like the word doesn't, I mean, it’s almost like the word doesn’t, I mean, their decision to run for president put the entire Democratic Party and the United States of America in the position that it’s in now."
I talk to @chucktodd every Monday for my newsletter.
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) December 3, 2024
It's always a good conversation.
But, I thought Chuck NAILED it today on why the Hunter Biden trial really mattered when thinking about the Biden presidency and the pardon.
Watch the whole thing at the link in my bio. pic.twitter.com/FzBUBKM1cI
Such admissions, and from someone who covered so much for the Biden-Harris administration as Todd did, as Sister Toldjah reminded at our sister site of RedState, is certainly telling. It also reveals what many of us knew all along, though, that Biden and Jean-Pierre have a penchant for lying to the American people, and being so dismissive about it.
CNN's Jake Tapper is another example. He's been skeptical of the Biden-Harris administration before, notably when he was questioning Jean-Pierre about Biden's fitness, or lack thereof, in August of last year. He's also been a defender, though, and has gone after President-elect Donald Trump and plenty of other Republicans, including and especially on the selective outrage front, when he could be going after Democrats.
During Monday's episode of "The Lead," Tapper addressed common arguments against Biden issuing a pardon. He reminded viewers how Biden and the White House have claimed for months that this was something the president supposedly wouldn't do, and called the pardon a "stunning reversal" from those assurances.
Tapper also revealed another potentially damning point, which is that "sources told CNN today that President Biden did not go through the office of the pardon attorney at the Justice Department, as is standard. In fact, President Biden has been discussing pardoning his son with top aides since Hunter's conviction in June, according to NBC News reporting, while at the same time, the president was telling the rest of us this."
The segment played plenty of clips about the matter, including Biden and Jean-Pierre offering assurances, though it's also worth focusing even more so on Jean-Pierre, who has once more lied when she claimed that the president made such a decision over the weekend, and actually expects us to believe that.
Surprisingly, Tapper did acknowledge that "President Biden lying about this, of course, makes others in his administration and allies either credulous or complicit, including White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who's been saying this for months to the American people," as a clip of her past comments were played. In such a clip, and during countless other daily press briefings, Jean-Pierre's smugness in telling what turned out to be a lie was certainly shown through. She even laughed at the reporter who asked such a question.
"We've been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no," Jean-Pierre said in another exchange, with quite a nasty tone.
"The answer does not stand," Tapper reminded after playing the clip, adding, "There was, of course, a political benefit to President Biden and his allies telling this lie. In June, when Hunter Biden was found guilty on three felony gun charges, his father, the president, was still running for reelection against former President Donald Trump, and Democrats and progressives saw this as an opportunity to contrast the current and former president."
Tapper then played clips of Andrew Weissman, their legal analyst, as well as Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), whom the network has continuously mocked for also claiming that Biden wouldn't pardon his son.
That's when Tapper got into it even further about how Biden lied. "Beyond the pardon and beyond the lie about the pardon, President Biden is doing what he claimed he would not do. He is undermining his own Justice Department," he pointed out, taking issue with the statement Biden issued, especially when it comes to supposed "political pressure on the pressure" he lamented.
Shockingly enough, Tapper went on to more accurately describe the handling of Hunter's shoddy plea deal, noting, "The plea deal collapsed in part because Hunter Biden wanted more immunity than prosecutors were offering. And now it's President Biden, not his successor, President-elect Trump, who is blaming his own Department of Justice for being politicized, saying, quote, 'I also believe raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice,' unquote."
President Joe Biden pardons Hunter Biden pic.twitter.com/sS7nBhSKFG
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 2, 2024
It's especially rich for Biden, or anyone else in the Biden-Harris administration to lament how the "process" has supposedly been "infected" by "raw politics" when the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) has done just that by going after their political enemies, including but not limited to Trump.
Tapper also pointed out how Special Counsel David Weiss has responded, noting that he "pushed back on the president's justification--justification for pardoning his son in a court filing, quote, there was none and never has been any evidence of vindictive or selective prosecution in this case, Weiss wrote."
The opening segment also focused on Democrats taking issue with Biden's move to pardon Hunter, including Sens. Gary Peters (MI) and Michael Bennet (CO), though they're certainly not the only ones. As Townhall has been covering, Democrats have been thrust into chaos and disarray.
Tapper also aptly responded to the argument that Biden was just trying to do right by his son. "And look, while we all can sympathize with the president, who has already lost two children under tragic circumstances, and surely most of us would help our kids in any way we possibly could. It is also true that today's act further portrays the criminal justice system as one that helps the well-connected. Prisons are full of people who have made bad choices, even broken laws, because of their addictions. It's too bad for them that they have the wrong last name," he said as a fitting way to end his opening.
The show's X account even posted such a clip, which was the day's monologue.
Democrats openly criticize Biden's reversal to pardon son
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) December 2, 2024
Watch the video here: https://t.co/2hPEgpdODL pic.twitter.com/rr5yS2yykY
As an added bonus, there's also Jon Stewart, who, during Monday night's episode of "The Daily Show," focused on a particularly shady part of the pardon, which is that it covered 11 years.
As he noted, "11 years is a very specific and not rounded amount of time."
Even Jon Stewart admits that Hunter's pardon stretching back 11 years is quite fishy:
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 3, 2024
Jon Stewart: "Faith in the rule of law: Finally, Democrats have a moral perch for which they can judge without shame hypocrisy or nuance."
Jessica Dean: "Breaking news, President Biden has… pic.twitter.com/NHwKEL7dLr
