He’s Facing Prison Time Over Anti-Hillary Memes. Here’s What We Know About A Possible Pardon

Douglass Mackey, the creator of a popular pro-Trump X account, was convicted by the Biden DOJ in 2023 of election interference for posting memes that mocked Hillary Clinton voters to cast their ballot via text during the 2016 presidential election.

Mackey, who was charged by the Biden DOJ some four years after posting the memes in question, was facing a stunning 10 years behind bars. In 2023, he was sentenced to seven months, but the sentence was delayed by an appeals court.

During the 2016 election, Mackey posted on his X account, “Avoid the line. Vote from home … Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” alongside an image of a woman holding a Clinton sign. This along with several other similar memes were cited by the prosecution as Mackey using “Twitter to trick American citizens into thinking they could vote by text and stay at home on Election Day — thereby suppressing and injuring those citizens’ right to vote,” per the Intercept.

As Trump signs a slew of pardons only a couple of days into his second term, conservatives wonder if and when Mackey will receive a pardon.

On Monday, Mackey said on social media that he’s actually yet to request a pardon from Trump since he’s waiting out a potentially favorable ruling on appeal.

“Since so many are asking, my team and I have not asked President Trump for a pardon at this time as we are hoping for a favorable, precedent-setting ruling in the 2nd Circuit that would prevent the DOJ from politically weaponizing the law,” the 36-year-old posted to X. “Thank you everybody for your support!”

Since so many are asking, my team and I have not asked President Trump for a pardon at this time as we are hoping for a favorable, precedent-setting ruling in the 2nd Circuit that would prevent the DOJ from politically weaponizing the law.

Thank you everybody for your support!

— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) January 21, 2025

If the ruling is unfavorable to Mackey, it’s likely he’ll request a pardon, and highly likely Trump will grant one, as suggested by exclusive reporting from The Daily Wire.

A White House policy adviser, discussing Trump’s now-signed executive order ending the weaponization of the federal government, cited Mackey’s case as an example of such weaponization under the Biden DOJ.

Additionally, Donald Trump Jr. recently told host Tim Pool that Mackey would be his “first pardon.” Don Jr. was extremely influential during his father’s successful 2024 run and seems to have Trump’s ear. The eldest Trump son has said publicly that he pushed hard for his father to pick JD Vance as his VP, which Trump, of course, ultimately did.

On a fundraiser page for Mackey, the 36-year-old said that he’s challenging the DOJ’s prosecution “on multiple grounds, including the First and Fifth Amendments and that venue in Brooklyn was improper.”

“My rights at trial were further violated by prosecutorial gamesmanship, including the deliberate withholding of evidence until mid-trial, the manipulation of a ‘cooperating witness’ and the manufacturing of his testimony, and the bringing of a case with insufficient evidence in an arbitrarily chosen federal district that was politically favorable to the prosecution,” he alleges.

Related: Biden DOJ Trying To Lock Up A Pro-Trump Meme Maker For Ten Years. Here’s What You Need To Know.