President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, could undermine Democrats’ messaging against President-elect Donald Trump, political experts said.
Biden announced Sunday that he would pardon his son, who had been convicted on firearms charges and pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges this year. He wrote it is “clear that Hunter was treated differently” than other defendants and that the charges “came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”
In June, Hunter Biden was convicted of lying on a federal form when he bought a gun in 2018 and swore he wasn’t a drug user. In September, he pleaded guilty to charges of trying to avoid paying more than $1.4 million in taxes.
“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son—and that is wrong,” Biden wrote. “There has been an effort to break Hunter—who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution.”
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The pardon divided Americans, with some arguing he should never have been charged while others were more critical.
Experts told Newsweek that the pardon may create a messaging headache for Democrats.
“It undermines the Democratic Party’s message that it is the party of small ‘d’ democracy, and democratic legitimacy,” Grant Davis Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek.
The pardon gives “more ammunition” for Republicans to use a “you too” defense of their actions, as well as “fuels efforts to put the two parties into an equivalent standing on the issue of democracy,” he said.
“And it further undermines the public’s view of and confidence in the entire governmental and political system,” he said.
Anne Danehy, a professor at Boston University’s College of Communications, told Newsweek that while the pardon could undermine Democrats’ messaging against Trump, that message wasn’t particularly effective anyway. She said the pardon will be a “blip” that will matter little to voters in six months.
“It feeds into peoples’ distrust of government, the anti-Washington sentiment,” she said.
Democrats have spent years criticizing Trump over legal issues.
Trump has similarly claimed the legal cases against him were politically motivated, painting himself as someone who has been unfairly targeted. Democrats have dismissed the claims, arguing that he should not receive any special treatment as a result of his status as a former president, and now president-elect.
Robert Y. Shapiro, a Columbia University political science professor, told Newsweek that the pardon leaves Democrats in an “awkward” position while also making it easier politically for Trump to issue pardons that may be received negatively by his critics surrounding the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“It has opened the door for Trump whenever he wants to issue blanket, sweeping pardons to those imprisoned or accused for the January 6, 2021, assaulting of the Capitol, and any other crimes coming out of the attempt to overturn the 2020 electoral vote,” he said.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
Democrats Distance Themselves From Biden Pardon
Many Democratic officials have already distanced themselves from Biden.
“While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
Danehy said that Democrats may be smart to avoid commenting on the pardon, as much of their base may be more sympathetic to why Biden decided to pardon his son. It would also avoid drawing attention to the issue, she said.
Most Americans, meanwhile, are still more concerned about putting food on the table, she said.
“They have bigger issues, in terms of how do you rebuild the Democratic Party, and how do you find a leader for the Democratic Party that will be able to beat the Republicans in four years,” she said. “If they get stuck on this, it’s not going to do anything to help them.”
Costas Panagopoulos, professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Newsweek that the pardon isn’t particularly surprising, and that most voters will likely move on quickly as other political news breaks.
“It will be perceived through partisan lenses, but most people will likely forget all about it by the time the next election comes around. Republicans will try to keep the issue alive, but it will likely pale in comparison to other developments in the coming months and years,” he said.
Reeher, however, said Democrats have little choice but to distance themselves from Biden.
“It’s true that past presidents have used the pardon power on their way out to make some very unpopular pardons,” he said. “Trump and Clinton come to mind. But the context always matters, and this particular pardon goes against so much of the Democratic Party’s heated rhetoric in the campaign that it’s really a black eye for the party.”
