President Joe Biden laughed at the idea of pardoning former President Donald Trump for potential charges related to the Jan. 6 riot, days after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would consider it.
“It’s a good question,” Biden told reporters Monday after laughing at the prompt.
DeSantis said Thursday that if he won the 2024 presidential election he would “be aggressive at issuing pardons” for people “who are victims of weaponization or political targeting,” seemingly insulting Trump. The Florida governor officially announced his candidacy for president Wednesday via Twitter spaces.
“Do you think the January 6 defendants deserve to have their cases examined by a Republican president? And if Trump, let’s say, gets charged with federal offenses and you are the president of the United States, would you look at potentially pardoning Trump himself based on the evidence that might emerge of those charges?” DeSantis was asked on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” Thursday.
“What I’m going to do is — I’m going to do on Day One – I will have folks that will get together and look at all these cases, who are people who are victims of weaponization or political targeting, and we will be aggressive at issuing pardons. Now, some of these cases, some people may have a technical violation of the law,” DeSantis began.
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – APRIL 19: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to a crowd at the North Charleston Coliseum on April 19, 2023 in North Charleston, South Carolina. The Governor’s appearance marks his first official visit to the “First in the South” presidential primary state amid mounting anticipation of his 2024 presidential candidacy. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
“But if there are three other people who did the same thing, but just in a context like [Black Lives Matter] and they don’t get prosecuted at all, that is uneven application of justice, and so we’re going to find ways where that did not happen. And then we will use the pardon power — and I will do that at the front end. You know, a lot of people wait until the end of the administration to issue pardons. We’re going to find examples where government’s been weaponized against disfavored groups, and we will apply relief as appropriate,” he added, noting that the cases will be treated on a “case-by-case basis.” (RELATED: Trump Says He Will Pardon ‘Large Portion’ Of J6 Rioters)
At a CNN town hall on May 10, Trump said he would pardon a “large portion” of Jan. 6 rioters.
“I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one because a couple of them probably they got out of control, but, you know, when you look at Antifa, what they’ve done to Portland, and if you look at Antifa, look at what they’ve done to Minneapolis and so many other – so many other places, look at what they did to Seattle. And BLM – BLM, many people were killed,” Trump responded.