Sen. Mitt Romney, who has been highly critical of Trump in the past, argued Biden missed a major opportunity by failing to pardon his presidential predecessor.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, argued on Wednesday that President Biden made a tactical mistake by not pardoning former President Trump from legal prosecution.
"He should have fought like crazy to keep this prosecution from going forward," Romney told MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle. "It was a win-win for Donald Trump."
While the President of the United States can pardon only in federal cases, Romney argued that Biden "made an enormous error" by not pardoning his predecessor or pressuring New York prosecutors to drop their hush money case against Trump.
Romney said Biden missed an opportunity to unify the country behind him.
"You may disagree with this, but had I been President Biden, when the Justice Department brought on indictments, I would have immediately pardoned him," he said. "I'd have pardoned President Trump. Why? Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned a little guy."
The political precedent for such a move, Romney argued, could be seen during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson.
"I have been around for a while. If LBJ had been president, and he didn’t want something like this to happen, he’d have been all over that prosecutor saying, ‘You better not bring that forward, or I’m gonna drive you out of office,’" Romney argued.
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Allies of former President Trump slammed the ongoing NY v. Trump trial as a "sham" promoted by Democrats ahead of the 2024 election. Romney called the actions of his fellow Republicans an "enormous mistake."
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"I think it’s a terrible fault for our country to see people attacking our legal system — that’s an enormous mistake," Romney said when asked about the political display. "I think it’s also demeaning for people to quite apparently try and run for vice president by donning a red tie and standing outside the courthouse. It's just — I'd have felt awkward."
