NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd blasted President Biden for pardoning his son Hunter Biden this week, saying it has done "real damage" to the country.
Todd argued the point during a Wednesday segment on "Meet The Press NOW," a daily show aired on the network's streaming service, NBC News NOW, stating that Biden’s move sets the precedent for a deluge of future presidential pardons, and his words that the U.S. justice system unfairly targeted his son will further undermine the country’s faith in its institutions.
"You have the leading Democrat in America and the leading Republican in America both agreeing on one thing: the Justice Department has been politicized. That is absolutely – that is long-term damaging," he told show host Ali Vitali.
Todd appeared on the program to talk about his recent column, "The Trumpification of Joe Biden," which provided his theory on the damage Biden’s pardon has done to the rule of law in America.
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Biden announced on Sunday evening that he pardoned his son from any crimes against the U.S. that he "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024.
In his statement, Biden accused the Department of Justice of targeting his son "unfairly." He wrote, "From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted."
During his "Meet The Press NOW" appearance, Todd began by lamenting that the president’s move gives future presidents – namely Trump – a "permission slip" to exercise pardons.
"Now you’ve given him a permission slip," the analyst said. "Unprecedented acts – any presidential act becomes a permission slip for the next president. And we have seen this through history, through our own history and how the presidency has worked: once one thing has happened, suddenly it becomes, ‘Well, we’ve done it before. So we can do it again’ type of thing."
He then pointed to two aspects of the pardon as "extraordinarily troubling," the first being Biden "using the exact same rhetoric" as President-elect Donald Trump in his regular attacks stating the DOJ is weaponized against him.
"I could have said to you, ‘Did Donald Trump say this, or did Joe Biden say this?’ And a lot of people might have said, ‘Oh this is something Trump would say.’ It’s not something we were used to Joe Biden saying about the rule of law and about the justice system."
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The second troubling aspect, he said, was the fact that subsequent presidents will each get their "security blanket pardon."
"So now we’re in a situation where every party is going to come in, and as they leave, everybody gets their security blanket pardon. ‘OK, how long do you want it? You want a 10-year window?’" he said, slamming the decade-long window of Biden’s pardon for Hunter.
"Because we now have established this 10-year window of whatever you can make – you know, this get out of jail free card," he said, marveling at the notion.
"Guess what? There’s now a precedent for it and that’s what’s so damaging about this decision," Todd declared.
He briefly expressed some sympathy for Biden having to make this hard decision, but concluded, "This has done real damage to the country."
Todd’s NBC comments on the pardon come after he talked about it in a Substack.com interview with commentator Chris Cillizza. During the conversation, Todd said he "knew 100%" that Biden would pardon his son, noting that he was "not going to leave office without doing everything he could to protect his son."
Todd added that Biden "probably never should have run" for president, stating his family drama rendered him "emotionally incapable."
