Biden pardon threatens his legacy—and Democrats’ fight against Trump
Summary
The reprieve for his son “is not fully consonant with what he ran on,” says one Democrat.
WASHINGTON—Joe Biden made the central purpose of his presidency clear in his Inauguration Day address: “We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile," he said at the U.S. Capitol, where a violent mob had tried that month to overturn his 2020 election victory. Biden’s aim would be to unify the nation and shore up its democratic institutions.
That is one reason why the president’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, on Sunday may further damage his already tarnished legacy: The reprieve he ordered threatens to undercut one of the main propositions he offered for his election.
Biden’s political brand as a presidential candidate—his value proposition as a leader—was largely a promise to restore democratic norms and to fight the cynicism that had helped Donald Trump build his MAGA movement on claims that self-dealing leaders had corrupted the government. Biden had repeatedly promised to respect the independence of the justice system and avoid interfering with the prosecution of his son, including by issuing a pardon.
His reversal “is not fully consonant with what he ran on," said Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democratic group. While Kessler said he empathized with Biden’s impulses to protect his son, the pardon comes as Trump will soon retake office on promises to overhaul a criminal justice system that he says unfairly targeted him and his followers. To lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Trump has nominated Kash Patel, a loyalist who has said he would fire its senior leaders and prosecute agents he thinks abused their authority.
Trump has pledged to pardon people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and seek “retribution’’ against his political opponents, which Democrats say threatens the independent disposition of justice. The Hunter Biden pardon “clouds the message" that Democrats will employ to protest those moves, Kessler said.
Others said the pardon will make it hard for Democrats to criticize Trump for pardons he issued to allies and family relatives during his first term, or about his use of the justice system when he returns to office, including the future use of pardons.
“It makes the position that we hold more difficult to defend when Democrats of any kind, but certainly the president, behave in ways that are similar to Donald Trump," Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican and political strategist, said on a podcast hosted by the opinion website the Bulwark, where she is the publisher. Trump in his first term pardoned a range of allies and at least one family relation.
The White House on Monday said that Biden has faith in the justice system but also believes his son was prosecuted only because of his connection to the president. “Two things could be true: The president does believe in the justice system and the Department of Justice, and he also believes his son was singled out politically," spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Other presidents have pardoned family members—among them Bill Clinton, Abraham Lincoln and Trump, who in his first term pardoned his daughter’s father-in-law, Charles Kushner. Last week, Trump said he intended to nominate Kushner as ambassador to France.
While Biden’s pardon of his son, like the pardons issued by his predecessors, may not be remembered as a defining feature of his presidency, it adds to the bitter feeling that many Democrats have about his last two years in office, which tarnished other aspects of the president’s public image.
Once seen as a politician with the common touch—his nickname of “Scranton Joe’’ spoke to his blue-collar background—Biden leaves office amid the continued exodus of working-class voters from the Democratic coalition, including many Latino and Black voters who had supported the party in prior elections.
Biden cast himself as a global statesman, an image built in part on his long Senate career, which included a stint as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also played a role in major foreign policy decisions as vice president to former President Barack Obama. While Biden as president rallied allies to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia, he has struggled in efforts to persuade Israel to curtail civilian wartime deaths in Gaza, despite that country’s heavy reliance on U.S. military assistance. He is likely to leave office without the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas militants that he has pursued for months.
Republicans were quick to argue that the pardon shows that Democrats preside over “a two-tiered" criminal justice system, which Trump has claimed unfairly targeted him for prosecution and so merits an overhaul and the investigation of his perceived enemies in a second term. Trump faced federal charges for his efforts to retain power after the 2020 election and for endangering national security by retaining classified documents after he left office.
“Under Democrat governance, there truly is a dual system of justice. One that protects Democrats and another weaponized against their political opponents,’’ wrote Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) on social media.
Even some Democrats suggested that the pardon undercut efforts to portray the Trump prosecutions as free from political interference.
“This was an improper use of power,’’ Sen. Gary Peters (D., Mich.) wrote on X. “It erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.’’
Rep. Greg Landsman (D., Ohio) suggested that the pardon undercut faith in government. “As a father, I get it,’’ he wrote in an X post. “But as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it’s a setback.’’
Many Democrats and analysts said that they empathized with Biden’s situation as a father watching the prospect of his son going to prison on tax and firearms convictions—something Biden referenced in his statement Sunday evening.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision," Biden said.
Barbara Perry, a professor of presidential studies at the University of Virginia, said that Biden is well known for his devotion to his two sons after his first wife and their 13-month-old daughter were killed in a 1972 car accident. One son, Beau Biden, later died of cancer.
She sees a clash between Biden’s interests as “an institutionalist, the former chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate’’ and the Biden who “sees himself as the patriarch, the ultimate family man.’’
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.) said: “If it was my son, I’d pardon him too. But here’s what I didn’t like. Don’t lie to us. Don’t tell us you’re not going to do it and then do it."
The pardon comes as many Democrats are still angry that Biden sought a second term despite concerns, including within the party, about his advanced age. Biden’s halting performance during a late-June debate with Trump prompted his eventual withdrawal from the race, under pressure from other Democratic leaders. That came too late for the party to hold an open primary to pick a new nominee and left little time for Vice President Kamala Harris to build her own campaign.
“We spent two years making excuses and not seeing the obvious,’’ said Kessler, who said Biden was clearly too old to run for re-election. “And while the Hunter Biden situation is tertiary, it just feels part of the same stew in which we were making accommodations.’’
He added: “It’s December of 2024, and Democrats don’t want to be defending Joe Biden right now….We have to prepare for the onslaught of Donald Trump and the discussion of how the Democratic Party becomes competitive again."
Katy Stech Ferek contributed to this article.
Write to Aaron Zitner at aaron.zitner@wsj.com
