“President Biden believes America is a nation of second chances,” a White House official proclaimed on the heels of a presidential pardon for six individuals — convicted on a range of felony charges from drugs to murder — at the end of last year.
One woman on the list was found guilty of murdering her husband, but she was pardoned as a belated acknowledgment of the legitimacy of battered women’s syndrome. Another pardon went to the first black Secret Service officer on presidential detail who claimed he was unfairly targeted for “exposing racism” in the service (despite being accused of selling a copy of a Secret Service file). Correcting the record for perceived “sexism” and “racism” in the legal system is certainly a popular demand of Democrats’ core supporters. (RELATED: Pentagon Team Finds ‘Significant Racial Disparities’ In Military Justice, But Lacks Data To Identify ‘Root Causes’)
Accordingly, President Joe Biden is no stranger to pardons and does seem to genuinely want to give second chances to those who he believes got the short end of the stick. For example, he fulfilled his campaign promise to pardon all prior federal charges of simple marijuana possession, a move that officials said would impact thousands of people struggling to find work with such charges on their record.
It is worth pointing out that many people charged with merely simple possession often pleaded down from more egregious charges of trafficking. However, an “overwhelming majority” of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, so it appears that Biden’s earnest desire for granting second chances enjoys a substantial amount of public support. In short, a win-win.
What are the common themes in Biden’s record of pardons?
It appears that they all cater to correcting perceived injustices, where a biased system produced unfair results. He also wants to cater to public opinion, granting clemency on issues that Americans broadly support. He wants to give people second chances — and no crime is too big to deter his mercy. (RELATED: Biden Laughs At Pardoning Trump For Jan. 6 After DeSantis Consideration)
So why then, won’t he pardon former President Donald Trump?
There is certainly precedent for a current president pardoning his predecessor. Gerald Ford famously pardoned Richard Nixon in 1974 for his role in the Watergate scandal. At first, it generated major controversy, but even liberal critics came to look back on the move as being in the best interest of the country.
The Kennedy Library gave Ford its Profiles In Courage award in 2001. At the award ceremony, Senator Ted Kennedy reflected on the move. ”I was one of those who spoke out against his action then. But time has a way of clarifying past events, and now we see that President Ford was right. His courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us,” he said.
Even Bob Woodward, the liberal reporter who broke the Watergate story, later admitted that the pardon was “an act of courage.”
Despite the precedent, Biden seems to lack any similar good will.
Biden claims to be uninvolved in the Department of Justice’s decision to indict the former president. As a self-proclaimed outsider, he should be aware of the abject double standard his DOJ is pursuing and use his presidential authority to rectify it. A truly neutral application of the law would have led to an indictment of Hillary Clinton for the same charges against Trump.
Additionally, rectifying such a systemic injustice would presumably enjoy substantial public support. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found a whopping 80 percent of Republicans believe the indictment is “politically motivated” compared to just 16 percent of Democrats. However, across the public more broadly, a plurality of Americans (47 percent) agreed the charges were politically motivated compared to those who said they were not (37 percent).
While the core Democratic base — those who have long wanted Trump’s scalp — would be angry, a presidential pardon would go a long way toward healing America’s increasingly polarized divisions. A pardon would be a major show of good faith across the aisle; Biden would likely gain more moderate Republican votes than he’d lose from far-left Democrats in the 2024 election. It would signal a level of magnanimity and grace once thought extinct in American politics, and prove that he truly does believe in second chances — even for those he disagrees with.
He could do all this with the stroke of a pen and become the great unifier he promised to be.
The fact that he does not shows that his bold vision of unity was always false. The Democrats have no interest in unifying the country. They want to demonize Trump, and by extension anyone who supports him, as a criminal. This will neutralize the entire Republican party, tarred and feathered as an illegitimate criminal entity, and leave the Democrats as the only reasonable option for anyone with common sense and basic human decency. The corporate media will trumpet this message relentlessly not only with the aim of winning in 2024, but to solidify Democrat control for decades to come. (RELATED: 3 Things Democrats May Hope To Get Out Of Trump’s Indictment)
Biden and the Democrats want to see America divided. They are convinced it is the only way they can hold onto power.