By William B. Chastain -
The GOP prides itself on being the party of ‘law and order’. Their outspoken support for police officers and tough-on-crime policies underscore this idea; however, this ideal has recently come into question following a blanket pardon of January 6th rioters by President Donald Trump.
President Trump’s pardon was all-encompassing. Most violent offenders, those who assaulted and injured Capitol Police, were included. Asked about how this is compatible with the GOP’s stance on law enforcement, House Speaker Mike Johnson beat around the bush without a clear answer, saying “The President’s made his decision. I don’t second-guess those”. This starkly contrasts with his response to former president Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons – which included his family, members of the January 6th committee, and others such as Dr. Anthony Fauci to protect them from potentially vengeful actions by President Trump – which he called “shocking” and “disgusting”.
The hypocrisy is staggering; the leader of a party that once claimed to be law enforcement’s best friend is now responsible for the release of hundreds of criminals guilty of assaulting police officers. Mind you, the vast majority of those pardoned pleaded guilty to their crimes. Several who were already in prison had their sentences commuted, including those convicted or otherwise charged with engaging in the separate seditious conspiracies mounted by leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to thwart the lawful transfer of power. It should be noted that several Republicans denounced Trump’s blanket pardoning, including the likes of Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, however many remain silent.
It’s easy to pick on Republicans for this sort of thing, as President Trump is more willing to break from tradition than his recent predecessors. Even so, Democrats too have had their moments. Joe Biden presented himself as a return to normalcy, the solution to Trump’s alleged abuse of power and lack of integrity. Despite this and his promises not to do so, the former president pardoned his son Hunter within the final two months of his term, claiming a “miscarriage of justice” had taken place. Special counsel David Weiss barked back at Biden, saying “The President’s statements unfairly impugn the integrity… of Department of Justice personnel”. The pardons were related to charges against Hunter Biden, including lying on a gun application about his drug use and in a separate case, three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor offenses. According to Weiss, “both cases [were] proven beyond a reasonable doubt” and were not politically motivated, writing he “prosecuted the two cases against [Hunter] Biden because he broke the law” in a final report. As a result, in similar fashion to Trump’s blanket pardons, several high-profile Democrats spoke out against Biden, but many more were silent or their stance ambiguous.
This trend is alarming. Without their parties and voters holding them accountable, recent presidents have pushed the boundaries of what actions can be taken in line with their party’s goals. Pardoning violent rioters that injured roughly 140 police officers and killed five is certainly against the GOP’s values while lying to the populace about your intention to pardon your family members goes against the supposed integrity of the Democratic party. It’s up to us, the people, to speak up, to make our voices heard. Presidents can only assume power with the support of the people; so it’s on us to make it clear, we don’t like the presidential pass.