Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Sunday that he thinks President Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter, is understandable, but he expressed concern about the “precedent” it could set for future presidents.
“I think two things: When you have his opponents going after his family, as a father, as a parent, I think we can all understand Biden trying to protect his son and his family,” Sanders began when asked on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” whether pardoning his son was the best choice Biden could have made for the country.
“On the other hand, I think the precedent being set is kind of a dangerous one,” he continued. “It was a very wide open pardon which could, under different circumstances, lead to problems in terms of future presidents.”
Sanders said he does not think the pardon will tarnish Biden legacy.
“I think his legacy is a strong legacy,” he said when asked. “I think President Biden on domestic policies has been perhaps the most progressive president in American history, since FDR, and I think the economy today, in many ways, is in very strong shape.”
Biden has faced mixed responses following his son’s pardon, which he announced two weeks ago. For more than a year, Biden said he would not pardon his son.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the president made his decision in part because he believed Republicans and Trump wouldn’t let up on prosecuting his son once the incoming administration took over.
“One of the reasons the president did the pardon is because it didn’t seem like his political opponents would let go of it, it didn’t seem like they would move on. And so, this is why this president took this action,” Jean-Pierre said upon being peppered with questions about Biden’s stark reversal.
Hunter Biden was found guilty in June in a federal case on three felony charges over his purchase and possession of a gun in 2018, violating the law by concealing drug use. He pleaded guilty in September to nine federal tax charges, avoiding a trial.
