You're way off on this one, Chris. Trump and his sycophants have pledged a presidency of retribution. Kash Patel has said he's coming for those who Trump thinks did him wrong, including those in the media.
Had Pres. Biden not done this, I'm pretty sure Trump's AG (not sure it will be Kash) would have trumped up more charges against Hunter.
BTW: This is not his legacy. His legacy will bringing the country out of Covid and into an economy that's the best in the world.
I agree completely, Pete. . If anyone but Trump was entering the Oval, I would have agreed with you Chris. All bets are off now that Trump and his sycophants are taking over the government. Let them say what they want about Biden, they will say it anyway. Joe needed to protect his kid from them, I do not blame him at all.
The trump crew is shaping up to be the most vindictive and cruel administration in history.
If you don't think for one nanosecond they were gonna nail Hunter to the Mike Pence noose then you haven't been paying attention or reading the signs.
Joe put his kid and family in front of his legacy. He knows what he was doing. Hunter is a dirtbag. But he's his only living son. I'm sorry he had to make this choice. None of us ever wish to be in this position.
Exactly. In a Trump Presidency with Trump appointees including a Kash Patel pulling the DOJ/FBI strings, Hunter might face a firing squad. No joke! Joe Biden already lost a daughter, a son, a first wife to tragedy. Pardons have been done left and right, especially by the man who will take over on 1/20. If this were anybody but Joe Biden's son involved, Cillizza would not have said a word.
However I do think it will solidify a negative legacy for him, it’s the latest selfish move after he decided to run again, concerned the extent of his decline, and failed to stand up to Netanyahu. Then there’s the Afghanistan disaster. Also he’s a terrible communicator. He’s put an exclamation point on his failings.
I don't think so. I see Chris as a very straight shooter who tries to call them as he sees them. Two things to remember. First, Chris, and most of us grew up in an atmosphere where politics was at least semi predictable. The second most important thing to remember, is that from a strictly political point of view what JOE did was absolutely horrific and will have ramifications by giving the other side lots of ammunition. It was an unforced error, but I think most of us can understand why Joe did it.
I disagree. I think all morality has been thrown out the window with the election of Trump. Were Biden to leave office without pardoning Hunter, he was throwing his last son to the wolves. Had Harris been elected, I would agree with you. She was not. Circumstances have changed dramatically.
Totally correct. Hunter was going to be pilloried by Trump. Biden did the only decent thing a father could do. In a few months this will be ancient history and Trump will be on his reign of vengeance.
It will be interesting to read this take with the smoothing context of retrospect. I have a feeling Chris' reaction will be viewed as over the top and misguided. Most rational people can look at the Hunter Biden saga and recognize that the man was being persecuted because of his father. Within a Trump Justice Department, that would almost certainly increase. I also just don't buy the moral high ground argument. I don't know if you noticed but the moral high ground didn't do the Democrats any favors in this past election. My prediction - this is a footnote to Biden's presidency, not the lead.
I totally agree. Given the results of the election in the USA, I don’t think anyone cares about the moral high ground. I find it so frustrating that the left is so critical of its politicians while the right celebrates everything, no matter how outrageous Trump and his ilk do. Hunter, although not a great guy, was targeted by the right and would be again to taint his father. That’s the real crime in my opinion. If Trump hadn’t won there would have been no need for a pardon. For god sake Thump is making Kushner an ambassador.. someone he pardon who was found guilty. If the majority of Americans can elect Trump they obviously will not care about the pardon. It seems only the left leaning media do. Once again throwing their own politicians to the wolves
He is not in a position to BE better. The entire Trump prospective administration is dangerous and crazy, I would not subject a son to a Pam Bondi-led “justice” system….and if you were completely honest, neither would you..
Joyce Vance has a perspective on this that rings true to many of us. In a pre-MAGA era, Hunter Biden would never have been prosecuted for these offenses
Yes indeed! So True! Lusten to Joyce Vance. And remember all the True criminaliteit Trump already pardoned in his first term! Hunter Biden does not even come close to these thugs
You wrote never...I provided you with 298 examples. I am normally not a research assistant for strangers, but here is a press release title from Biden's ATF entitled, "Federal Prosecutors Aggressively Pursuing Those Who Lie in Connection With Firearm Transactions." with many examples of just checking the wrong box.
Yes, I wrote “never” about prosecution for the single crime of falsifying the form. I did not do my own research but based my statement on statements by esteemed former federal prosecutors who allocate their resources. They have said that they would not have allocated prosecutorial resources to this type of offense, without some other more serious offense.
Voting Americans spoke that's okay to do whatever now. I suppose Biden could have just let the dice roll to see what would happen. Patel was probably a deciding factor for Biden. I personally don't care that Biden pardoned his son. It's not like he's going to recidivate.
You need to read the room Chris. I’m not sure you have the capability of doing that. It might render this space completely useless if you can’t see the differences.
My job isn't to "read the room." It's to provide you with my honest analysis of events in politics. If I read the room and told you what you wanted to hear I'd be selling Hopium. And I don't do that.
It seems like your job is to write about the things that concern our country. Kash Patel as FBI director seems like a bigger deal than Hunter Biden going free on some minor charges.
You need to be balanced. You are not. Perhaps you don’t have the ability to be. The divisions in the USA are rooted in inequality. To women, to people of color, for example. Republicans have spent a lot of time attacking democratic policies which attempted to address the balance. Equality is not what they want. So the argument that is not your job to be balanced when reporting just plays into that Republican bias. It’s clear there are already more posts against what you have said than for it. Are the posters all wrong? Your answer will speak to your bias. And that’s what I meant by read the room.
The substack post at this link also provides some insight, I think, about what is going on with Pro Trump/ Anti Biden supporters. Cognitive bias. Basically “I reject your reality and substitute my own”. Delusion. It explains the rise of fascism too.
What does Joe Biden have to do with the Weather, what happens in Africa etc? If you think this is worse than the First Trump administration with COVID. Children’s Cages for those from South of the Border.
You’re so completely wrong on this. Anyone else committing the crimes he committed would have been given a fine and penalties for the late filing of taxes (which he received and paid) and community service an gun law training for the gun violation. Check the facts yourself, His prosecution was purely political. Mike JOhnson claiming that even though he was a private citizen, Americans had a right to know the facts. But then said Matt Gaez is a private citizen so Americans don’t have the right to know what the ethics report says. Hypocrisy much. You’re as off base on this as you were when bashing Harris for not giving interviews with the mainstream journalists. You all weren’t going to treat her fairly and you clearly didn’t throughout both Biden’s and her campaign. The pd casters and influencers are who was reaching voters. The Rs have those in spades with 10s if not 100s of millions of followers that they were spewing out their lies and disinformation to. The Ds need to build the same types of social media prior to the mid-terms.
How exactly can he be better?___ personally I think he should use his Supreme Court given right and send the navy seals or some secret forces in to have a talk with Patel and the other idiots being chosen. Scare the pants off them.
The promise he didn’t keep…. It makes me so sad about a man I admired. He’s a lot like all of us in private. We say things we know we don’t mean. Let’s hope Hunter is a better person than he was, and let’s hope the President keeps going for a while. He’s been a good President.
who cares if he did not keep that promise. He kept the ones that HELPED the American people. His legacy should be what he did for us. Not for Hunter who has nothing to do with us. I am so glad he pardoned his son. Trump and his Republican cronies be damned.
Yes, he did, and what did that get him? The voters made it clear they didn't want someone who was going to be better, they chose the convicted felon who ran on a platform of retribution. So why does Biden need to be the "sucker" and "loser" just because you want to hold him to a higher standard than you hold the other guy to? And guess what- and by the way- I'm kind of over you trotting out this "Biden said he would be better" line only as a bludgeon to use against Biden when you think he's coming up short, while rarely giving him any credit for the thousand ways he has been better at restoring civility and protecting the rule of law. So if this pardon is Biden's way of giving the country the middle finger, maybe the country deserves it. I don't say that no one has the right to criticize him, but you sure as heck don't- as I recall, you sat out the election and couldn't be bothered to vote at all, so I frankly don't recognize your right to have an opinion.
Give me a break! At this point and time if it were Trump you would just say that’s par for the course. One of the reason we have Trump is because of the lack of follow up after the outrage. No one at this point gives a shit and your outrage rings hollow.
Again, with holding him/Harris to higher standards then Trump. He is in his 80's, the end of his career is 6 weeks away, and he has the ability to help his family. Is it ethical? No, but Trump has and will do worse, and most of us would do the same.
This is hardly is on a plane with Trump, it’s miles from Trump. Let him have this he‘s head and shoulders better than Trump and we all know he takes from everyone!
If Chris can't understand the moral difference between Trump and President Biden (and the evidence through the months suggests Chris cannot understand that difference) Chris will no longer be worthy of my money at renewal time.
No, but writing about stuff that matters for our country is what I signed up. Do you think Kash Patel will be confirmed? If so, what does that mean for our democracy?
Honestly, your statement makes no sense and I have no idea who the 'Colubias' are. The responses to Cillizza's article are not about its merit, but that nobody should disagree with their opinion.
So a single action — and particularly this one — equals (meaning, has exactly the same moral weight as) the grand totality of everything Trump and many of the House MAGA Republicans have already done to the Biden family over the last two years while Trump has controlled the US House through Mike Johnson, all in an effort to break his son’s recovery from drug addiction and thus to break the president?
This isn’t a binary choice to me. I can see this pardon as a problem but to literally equate the two is a vastly forgiving attitude toward Trump and the MAGA House for everything they have done for the last two years. If the two things are not equal, and I cannot imagine anyone would think that they were, then Biden did do better. That’s how math works.
Now my understanding is that you are passing moral judgment. You think Biden was morally wrong to do this and the door to discussing that is closed, so not much point in bringing it up with you one way or the other.
If you are separately saying that this will have bad political consequences, that he knew he’d pay a price but it’s catastrophic for the whole party, that is of more interest. I am not sure you are right about that, but you’re the political expert here. On the other hand, predicting the future— as opposed to analyzing the present—is a tricky business. At what point do we evaluate the real political impact and whether your prediction holds true? The next set of polls? Or the result of the 2026 midterms? Or some point in between?
At the end of today Chris, you should read all the posts that have been put here then go and chat with Republicans and Democrats and attempt to better understand what the dissonance is between the two.
If you lived in the Middle East or Northern Ireland you’d recognize the same sectarian division. Your job as a journalist is to rise above all this and parse the issues on both sides, being careful to understand the equality of the complaints on both sides. You don’t seem to be able to do that. That said US mainstream media hasn’t been able to do this either and has lost the respect of its audiences. You are in danger of doing that too.
Exactly. Trump is vowing to go after the Biden’s just as he went after Obama. Just as he went after Hillary. Chris ignoring this piece of the story borders on incompetence, negligence or bias. You can’t just willfully ignore Trump’s ongoing behavior.
There you go again. Didn't you remember that the moral threshold for getting money from the Saudi's on the last week of your administration is 2.1 billion. Clearly Jared was under the limit and did nothing wrong.
Oh, dear, hasn't Joe Biden had enough personal heartbreak? He has done so much for all of us over the years, so much good, cannot we forgive this? If this is what is remembered about him, when there is so very much else to respect, that is just wrong...
This post better be followed by a month's worth of posts about the outrage Chris feels about the pardons that Trump has already promised and the weaponization of the Justice Dept. he's already planning. Did you forget about the J6 pardons that are going to drop on day 1? This pardon by Biden will be forgotten in 2 or 3 days when Trump tries using it to defend another outrageous nominee or promise to pardon his entire family for real crimes. Yes, he'll use it as justification, but Trump is already planning to do the unthinkable. Attempting to equate Biden and Trump on anything is simply comical. We all know better.
So, if I get you correctly, it is OK for Trump to pardon his relatives and acolytes but not Biden. In addition, Trump was guilty of nepotism during his first term (and possibly emoluments), and he just appointed his daughter’s father-in-law to be ambassador. Where is your outrage on that? This has the appearance of a double standard. For the record, I think Biden did the right thing. Americans should not be outraged for this; they just elected a felon and a court recognized sexual abuser and defamer that should probably be in jail.
You are picking at nits! I admire Biden more, now, for averting political persecution if Hunter, rather than allowing him to be a meaningless political sacrifice for no purpose other than to strike at the President. This bit of situational ethics is far from the graft and grift of the Republican establishment. Have a little compassion and respect!
Completely and utterly wrong take. No one would have been charged with the gun felony he was. No prosecutor would have wasted their time. Trump already threatened more retribution. It was a miscarriage of justice to even have a special counsel look into Hunter. So spare us
I am sensitive to anything that makes it look like both sides are equally corrupt, because I think that's one of the reasons we got Trump again. Plenty of people figured that all politicians are criminals and liars anyway and things didn't go so badly when criminal liar Trump was president the first time, so why not? (Which the people who died of covid in 2020 might disagree with, but that's a discussion for another day.) But how much more can we really expect Joe Biden to sacrifice for us? He gave up his run for a second term because it was better for the country, and we wound up with Trump anyway. Now Trump and his people, including his preferred FBI director, are saying they're going to use law enforcement to go after anyone they consider an enemy. How could Joe live with himself if he let his son continue to be vulnerable to that to uphold a principle that the other side doesn't give a crap about? Joe didn't pardon himself, they can still try to go after him if they want but his son is safe. In an ideal world would I rather Democrats maintain the high ground here? Of course, but I can't imagine myself doing anything different in Joe's shoes. (I think there's also a case to be made that the high ground isn't serving Democrats well, but that too is a discussion for another day.)
You're way off on this one, Chris. Trump and his sycophants have pledged a presidency of retribution. Kash Patel has said he's coming for those who Trump thinks did him wrong, including those in the media.
Had Pres. Biden not done this, I'm pretty sure Trump's AG (not sure it will be Kash) would have trumped up more charges against Hunter.
BTW: This is not his legacy. His legacy will bringing the country out of Covid and into an economy that's the best in the world.
You should rethink this one.
I agree completely, Pete. . If anyone but Trump was entering the Oval, I would have agreed with you Chris. All bets are off now that Trump and his sycophants are taking over the government. Let them say what they want about Biden, they will say it anyway. Joe needed to protect his kid from them, I do not blame him at all.
This!
Same here
ditto
Agree completely, Pete.
I agree!!
Spare us the moral indignation.
The trump crew is shaping up to be the most vindictive and cruel administration in history.
If you don't think for one nanosecond they were gonna nail Hunter to the Mike Pence noose then you haven't been paying attention or reading the signs.
Joe put his kid and family in front of his legacy. He knows what he was doing. Hunter is a dirtbag. But he's his only living son. I'm sorry he had to make this choice. None of us ever wish to be in this position.
Exactly. In a Trump Presidency with Trump appointees including a Kash Patel pulling the DOJ/FBI strings, Hunter might face a firing squad. No joke! Joe Biden already lost a daughter, a son, a first wife to tragedy. Pardons have been done left and right, especially by the man who will take over on 1/20. If this were anybody but Joe Biden's son involved, Cillizza would not have said a word.
Nobody remembers Bill Clinton pardoning that friend of his on the way out, huge scandal at the time, totally forgotten now.
And Clinton's step brother...
Oh they remember
However I do think it will solidify a negative legacy for him, it’s the latest selfish move after he decided to run again, concerned the extent of his decline, and failed to stand up to Netanyahu. Then there’s the Afghanistan disaster. Also he’s a terrible communicator. He’s put an exclamation point on his failings.
Rocket Master Man, you are absolutely right on this one!
1 out of a thousand ain't bad. I'll take it.
Is anyone getting the feeling that Chris is saying stupid shit like this to get clicks?
The indignation by Chris and those on the right is really rich. As a lame duck what was he supposed to do. Talk about a witch hunt.
Well, if he did, it worked! He received a zillion comments (including mine), mostly from people who disagreed with him (including me).
I don't think so. I see Chris as a very straight shooter who tries to call them as he sees them. Two things to remember. First, Chris, and most of us grew up in an atmosphere where politics was at least semi predictable. The second most important thing to remember, is that from a strictly political point of view what JOE did was absolutely horrific and will have ramifications by giving the other side lots of ammunition. It was an unforced error, but I think most of us can understand why Joe did it.
I disagree. I think all morality has been thrown out the window with the election of Trump. Were Biden to leave office without pardoning Hunter, he was throwing his last son to the wolves. Had Harris been elected, I would agree with you. She was not. Circumstances have changed dramatically.
Especially given the fact that Kash Patel is Trump's nominee to run the FBI.
100%!
Totally correct. Hunter was going to be pilloried by Trump. Biden did the only decent thing a father could do. In a few months this will be ancient history and Trump will be on his reign of vengeance.
I’m glad he did. Look what being above the fray got Democrats.
Amen
To quote Dutch….true dat…
Exactly
It will be interesting to read this take with the smoothing context of retrospect. I have a feeling Chris' reaction will be viewed as over the top and misguided. Most rational people can look at the Hunter Biden saga and recognize that the man was being persecuted because of his father. Within a Trump Justice Department, that would almost certainly increase. I also just don't buy the moral high ground argument. I don't know if you noticed but the moral high ground didn't do the Democrats any favors in this past election. My prediction - this is a footnote to Biden's presidency, not the lead.
I totally agree. Given the results of the election in the USA, I don’t think anyone cares about the moral high ground. I find it so frustrating that the left is so critical of its politicians while the right celebrates everything, no matter how outrageous Trump and his ilk do. Hunter, although not a great guy, was targeted by the right and would be again to taint his father. That’s the real crime in my opinion. If Trump hadn’t won there would have been no need for a pardon. For god sake Thump is making Kushner an ambassador.. someone he pardon who was found guilty. If the majority of Americans can elect Trump they obviously will not care about the pardon. It seems only the left leaning media do. Once again throwing their own politicians to the wolves
Kidding, right????? Haven’t you noticed the revenge-seeking appointments?
Yes I have. And Joe Biden expressly promised he would be better. This isn't better. Or even close.
He is not in a position to BE better. The entire Trump prospective administration is dangerous and crazy, I would not subject a son to a Pam Bondi-led “justice” system….and if you were completely honest, neither would you..
Joyce Vance has a perspective on this that rings true to many of us. In a pre-MAGA era, Hunter Biden would never have been prosecuted for these offenses
Yes indeed! So True! Lusten to Joyce Vance. And remember all the True criminaliteit Trump already pardoned in his first term! Hunter Biden does not even come close to these thugs
298 Americans were prosecuted for lying on a 4473 form the year that Hunter lied on his 4473.
And what’s the rest of the story? Did they use the guns in a crime? Were there additional charges?
You wrote never...I provided you with 298 examples. I am normally not a research assistant for strangers, but here is a press release title from Biden's ATF entitled, "Federal Prosecutors Aggressively Pursuing Those Who Lie in Connection With Firearm Transactions." with many examples of just checking the wrong box.
Yes, I wrote “never” about prosecution for the single crime of falsifying the form. I did not do my own research but based my statement on statements by esteemed former federal prosecutors who allocate their resources. They have said that they would not have allocated prosecutorial resources to this type of offense, without some other more serious offense.
You have not shown otherwise.
Voting Americans spoke that's okay to do whatever now. I suppose Biden could have just let the dice roll to see what would happen. Patel was probably a deciding factor for Biden. I personally don't care that Biden pardoned his son. It's not like he's going to recidivate.
You need to read the room Chris. I’m not sure you have the capability of doing that. It might render this space completely useless if you can’t see the differences.
My job isn't to "read the room." It's to provide you with my honest analysis of events in politics. If I read the room and told you what you wanted to hear I'd be selling Hopium. And I don't do that.
It seems like your job is to write about the things that concern our country. Kash Patel as FBI director seems like a bigger deal than Hunter Biden going free on some minor charges.
Ya think??!!!
I agree that your job isn't to "read the room" but you're wrong on this one.
You need to be balanced. You are not. Perhaps you don’t have the ability to be. The divisions in the USA are rooted in inequality. To women, to people of color, for example. Republicans have spent a lot of time attacking democratic policies which attempted to address the balance. Equality is not what they want. So the argument that is not your job to be balanced when reporting just plays into that Republican bias. It’s clear there are already more posts against what you have said than for it. Are the posters all wrong? Your answer will speak to your bias. And that’s what I meant by read the room.
100%! MSNBC & Fox News provide echo chambers for those who need/want them. We come here for independent & honest analysis. Thank you!
Thank you for that.
The substack post at this link also provides some insight, I think, about what is going on with Pro Trump/ Anti Biden supporters. Cognitive bias. Basically “I reject your reality and substitute my own”. Delusion. It explains the rise of fascism too.
https://substack.com/@jaykuo/note/c-79742203?r=1tj9xp&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
What does Joe Biden have to do with the Weather, what happens in Africa etc? If you think this is worse than the First Trump administration with COVID. Children’s Cages for those from South of the Border.
You’re so completely wrong on this. Anyone else committing the crimes he committed would have been given a fine and penalties for the late filing of taxes (which he received and paid) and community service an gun law training for the gun violation. Check the facts yourself, His prosecution was purely political. Mike JOhnson claiming that even though he was a private citizen, Americans had a right to know the facts. But then said Matt Gaez is a private citizen so Americans don’t have the right to know what the ethics report says. Hypocrisy much. You’re as off base on this as you were when bashing Harris for not giving interviews with the mainstream journalists. You all weren’t going to treat her fairly and you clearly didn’t throughout both Biden’s and her campaign. The pd casters and influencers are who was reaching voters. The Rs have those in spades with 10s if not 100s of millions of followers that they were spewing out their lies and disinformation to. The Ds need to build the same types of social media prior to the mid-terms.
How exactly can he be better?___ personally I think he should use his Supreme Court given right and send the navy seals or some secret forces in to have a talk with Patel and the other idiots being chosen. Scare the pants off them.
Who are you to decide?
You mean as a citizen of the United States who has the right to free speech, or just as a guy you don't agree with? LOL
The mistake was making the promise not to pardon his son. I never for a second believed he wouldn’t pardon him.
The pardon isn’t the issue. It is that he made a promise he didn’t keep. Not unusual in politics or business or everyday life.
The promise he didn’t keep…. It makes me so sad about a man I admired. He’s a lot like all of us in private. We say things we know we don’t mean. Let’s hope Hunter is a better person than he was, and let’s hope the President keeps going for a while. He’s been a good President.
who cares if he did not keep that promise. He kept the ones that HELPED the American people. His legacy should be what he did for us. Not for Hunter who has nothing to do with us. I am so glad he pardoned his son. Trump and his Republican cronies be damned.
Yes, he did, and what did that get him? The voters made it clear they didn't want someone who was going to be better, they chose the convicted felon who ran on a platform of retribution. So why does Biden need to be the "sucker" and "loser" just because you want to hold him to a higher standard than you hold the other guy to? And guess what- and by the way- I'm kind of over you trotting out this "Biden said he would be better" line only as a bludgeon to use against Biden when you think he's coming up short, while rarely giving him any credit for the thousand ways he has been better at restoring civility and protecting the rule of law. So if this pardon is Biden's way of giving the country the middle finger, maybe the country deserves it. I don't say that no one has the right to criticize him, but you sure as heck don't- as I recall, you sat out the election and couldn't be bothered to vote at all, so I frankly don't recognize your right to have an opinion.
Maybe he did promise to be better and then saw what was coming & changed his mind to protect his son.
Every legal expert agrees it only got this far for Hunter was because he was Joe's son.
Give me a break! At this point and time if it were Trump you would just say that’s par for the course. One of the reason we have Trump is because of the lack of follow up after the outrage. No one at this point gives a shit and your outrage rings hollow.
Again, with holding him/Harris to higher standards then Trump. He is in his 80's, the end of his career is 6 weeks away, and he has the ability to help his family. Is it ethical? No, but Trump has and will do worse, and most of us would do the same.
Again: Biden EXPRESSLY ran on a promise to be BETTER than Trump. This is not that.
This is hardly is on a plane with Trump, it’s miles from Trump. Let him have this he‘s head and shoulders better than Trump and we all know he takes from everyone!
If Chris can't understand the moral difference between Trump and President Biden (and the evidence through the months suggests Chris cannot understand that difference) Chris will no longer be worthy of my money at renewal time.
If agreeing with everything you think is a requisite for your subscription, you absolutely should unsubscribe.
No, but writing about stuff that matters for our country is what I signed up. Do you think Kash Patel will be confirmed? If so, what does that mean for our democracy?
You are now seeing the outcome of not agreeing with the tolerant left.
You think the right is tolerant? Let ‚s see out with the Haitians, Mexicans, Colubias, Blacks, Native Peoples . Puerto Ricans. Lock up children,
Honestly, your statement makes no sense and I have no idea who the 'Colubias' are. The responses to Cillizza's article are not about its merit, but that nobody should disagree with their opinion.
Chris. There’s clearly a problem here that you aren’t recognizing.
DITTO
Give me a break. Why does the media keep holding Biden to a different standard. (Yes, Chris is the media).
Sadly being better than Trump didn’t help democrats win the election…if we were looking at Harris as president-elect, I doubt this pardon happens.
When the scale of Justice has both men in its buckets, Biden always outweighs Trump. Trump has no justice in him.
So a single action — and particularly this one — equals (meaning, has exactly the same moral weight as) the grand totality of everything Trump and many of the House MAGA Republicans have already done to the Biden family over the last two years while Trump has controlled the US House through Mike Johnson, all in an effort to break his son’s recovery from drug addiction and thus to break the president?
This isn’t a binary choice to me. I can see this pardon as a problem but to literally equate the two is a vastly forgiving attitude toward Trump and the MAGA House for everything they have done for the last two years. If the two things are not equal, and I cannot imagine anyone would think that they were, then Biden did do better. That’s how math works.
Now my understanding is that you are passing moral judgment. You think Biden was morally wrong to do this and the door to discussing that is closed, so not much point in bringing it up with you one way or the other.
If you are separately saying that this will have bad political consequences, that he knew he’d pay a price but it’s catastrophic for the whole party, that is of more interest. I am not sure you are right about that, but you’re the political expert here. On the other hand, predicting the future— as opposed to analyzing the present—is a tricky business. At what point do we evaluate the real political impact and whether your prediction holds true? The next set of polls? Or the result of the 2026 midterms? Or some point in between?
Trump bringing EVERYONE down….again…down to his level…
At the end of today Chris, you should read all the posts that have been put here then go and chat with Republicans and Democrats and attempt to better understand what the dissonance is between the two.
If you lived in the Middle East or Northern Ireland you’d recognize the same sectarian division. Your job as a journalist is to rise above all this and parse the issues on both sides, being careful to understand the equality of the complaints on both sides. You don’t seem to be able to do that. That said US mainstream media hasn’t been able to do this either and has lost the respect of its audiences. You are in danger of doing that too.
The only people I know who are upset about this pardon are Republicans and journalists
Exactly. Trump is vowing to go after the Biden’s just as he went after Obama. Just as he went after Hillary. Chris ignoring this piece of the story borders on incompetence, negligence or bias. You can’t just willfully ignore Trump’s ongoing behavior.
Tru dat!
and he LOST. so why keep a promise that does NOT affect the American People.?
Protecting someone from djt's retribution promises and excessive prosecutions is not being better than djt?
Seems to me this was done only in response to the regime choices and promises of revenge of the upcoming "administration."
Thank you! I'm honestly amazed that people are disagreeing with you. This shouldn't be a D or R thing. But, I guess that's where we are now.
Or as my big brother once said…..when it comes to your kids all bets are off…..
Seriously?
If are ethics are now, "Anything better than Trump," then America really is done. :(
I disagree. Hunters crimes were NOT commensurate with his actions period. As we watch Trump destroy this country I am glad Biden did what he did.
Hunter had a plea deal in place and the Judge refused to accept it. Is it as bad as helping your son in law get two billion from the Saudis
There you go again. Didn't you remember that the moral threshold for getting money from the Saudi's on the last week of your administration is 2.1 billion. Clearly Jared was under the limit and did nothing wrong.
Never heard that law
Oh, dear, hasn't Joe Biden had enough personal heartbreak? He has done so much for all of us over the years, so much good, cannot we forgive this? If this is what is remembered about him, when there is so very much else to respect, that is just wrong...
This post better be followed by a month's worth of posts about the outrage Chris feels about the pardons that Trump has already promised and the weaponization of the Justice Dept. he's already planning. Did you forget about the J6 pardons that are going to drop on day 1? This pardon by Biden will be forgotten in 2 or 3 days when Trump tries using it to defend another outrageous nominee or promise to pardon his entire family for real crimes. Yes, he'll use it as justification, but Trump is already planning to do the unthinkable. Attempting to equate Biden and Trump on anything is simply comical. We all know better.
So, if I get you correctly, it is OK for Trump to pardon his relatives and acolytes but not Biden. In addition, Trump was guilty of nepotism during his first term (and possibly emoluments), and he just appointed his daughter’s father-in-law to be ambassador. Where is your outrage on that? This has the appearance of a double standard. For the record, I think Biden did the right thing. Americans should not be outraged for this; they just elected a felon and a court recognized sexual abuser and defamer that should probably be in jail.
No one said it is okay for Trump.
No, he's just saying it's the equivalent. Which it's not.
You are picking at nits! I admire Biden more, now, for averting political persecution if Hunter, rather than allowing him to be a meaningless political sacrifice for no purpose other than to strike at the President. This bit of situational ethics is far from the graft and grift of the Republican establishment. Have a little compassion and respect!
Completely and utterly wrong take. No one would have been charged with the gun felony he was. No prosecutor would have wasted their time. Trump already threatened more retribution. It was a miscarriage of justice to even have a special counsel look into Hunter. So spare us
I am sensitive to anything that makes it look like both sides are equally corrupt, because I think that's one of the reasons we got Trump again. Plenty of people figured that all politicians are criminals and liars anyway and things didn't go so badly when criminal liar Trump was president the first time, so why not? (Which the people who died of covid in 2020 might disagree with, but that's a discussion for another day.) But how much more can we really expect Joe Biden to sacrifice for us? He gave up his run for a second term because it was better for the country, and we wound up with Trump anyway. Now Trump and his people, including his preferred FBI director, are saying they're going to use law enforcement to go after anyone they consider an enemy. How could Joe live with himself if he let his son continue to be vulnerable to that to uphold a principle that the other side doesn't give a crap about? Joe didn't pardon himself, they can still try to go after him if they want but his son is safe. In an ideal world would I rather Democrats maintain the high ground here? Of course, but I can't imagine myself doing anything different in Joe's shoes. (I think there's also a case to be made that the high ground isn't serving Democrats well, but that too is a discussion for another day.)