Biden’s pre-emptive pardons for Trump critics have been heavily criticized on social media
President Biden’s last moment preventive pardons Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest critics, including General Mark Milley, former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci, were criticized on Monday on social networks, a few hours before he will leave the White House.
“That Joe Biden used his last day in office to pardon Liz Cheney, among others, is a perfect expression of America’s political realignment and the rotten soul of the Democratic Party,” wrote journalist Glenn Greenwald.
Biden included everyone who was on the House committee on Jan. 6 on the list of preemptive pardons. Milley accepted the pardon, while Fauci thanked the president but maintained he had done nothing wrong.
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NBC’s Kristen Welker reported that Trump sent her his reaction, which read: “It’s disgraceful. Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said: “If there was ever any doubt about who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden’s pardon of Fauci seals the deal forever.”
Milley thanked Biden in a statement Monday.
“My family and I are deeply grateful for the president’s action,” he wrote. “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not want to spend the remaining time the Lord gives me fighting those who might unfairly seek retribution for perceived insults.”
On Monday, Biden issued several preemptive pardons to prominent critics of Donald Trump. (Left to right: (Photo by William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images), (Photo by Mandel Ngan – Pool/Getty Images), (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images), (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images ))
“I don’t want to put my family, my friends and those I’ve served with through the distraction, expense and anxiety that comes with it,” he added.
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“The swamp is protecting its own,” Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., wrote on social media.
Biden said in a statement that “the issuance of these pardons should not be misconstrued as an admission that any individual has engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any wrongdoing.”
Former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill lamented the “sad” pardons during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Monday and said it set a precedent for a future president.
Biden was criticized for pardoning his sonHunter Biden, in early December, after repeatedly telling Americans that he believed in the rule of law and that he would accept the outcome of his son’s trial.
“From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere in the decision-making of the Department of Justice, and I kept my word even as I watched my son be selectively and unfairly prosecuted,” the president said in a statement in December about pardoning his rail.
“Biden pardoned Fauci. He says it’s not an admission of guilt. But if Fauci was innocent, a pardon wouldn’t be necessary. Evidence suggests Fauci helped create the Covid pandemic and then covered it up. The investigation must go forward. All Covid & The Fauci Files must be released,” Michael Shellenberger, CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship and Free Speech at the University of Austin, wrote on social media.
“No one is above the law except people who receive blanket, preemptive pardons,” wrote commentator Mary Kathrine Ham. “Humiliation to the end.”
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Namely, special counsel Jack Smith, former FBI director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland are not included in the pardon, despite speculation that they could face a backlash from the new administration.
Anders Hagstrom of Fox News contributed to this report.
