Legacy Media: It’s Really Trump’s Fault That Biden Pardoned Hunter

President Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon on Sunday, absolving his embattled son Hunter for all federal crimes — not just those with which he’s been charged and convicted — that he may have committed over an 11-year period beginning in 2014. And according to some in legacy media, the blame for that historically unprecedented pardon lies at the feet of President-elect Donald Trump.

CNN contributor S.E. Cupp appeared to acknowledge that a sitting president pardoning his own child was a low point, but immediately argued that the pardon could be traced back to Trump because his existence in the American political landscape had “lowered the bar” for everyone involved, regardless of party.

“It doesn’t get said enough, but Trump’s enduring legacy will be convincing BOTH parties to lower the bar, and that possessing moral authority on anything is no longer a currency that matters,” she said.

It doesn’t get said enough, but Trump’s enduring legacy will be convincing BOTH parties to lower the bar, and that possessing moral authority on anything is no longer a currency that matters. https://t.co/f9hVwwIdEc

— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) December 2, 2024

Cupp was responding to Charlie Sykes, who said, “Smart person texts me: ‘Joe Biden has just removed the issue of pardons from the political arena for the next four years and Trump probably once again can’t believe his own dumb f***ing luck at this point.’ Sadly, I think he’s right.”

Smart person texts me: “Joe Biden has just removed the issue of pardons from the political arena for the next four years and Trump probably once again can’t believe his own dumb fucking luck at this point”

Sadly, I think he’s right.

— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) December 2, 2024

CNN contributor Bakari Sellers cheered the pardon in an X post, suggesting that if Biden had not issued the pardon, President-elect Trump would have done so if only to use the move for his own political gain. Trump had previously said that he would leave the door open to pardon Hunter once he took office in January.

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“Thank God. Pardon Hunter. Trump plays by no rules. Abuses the law. He would’ve pardoned Hunter and called you a coward for not doing it,” Sellers posted.

Thank God. Pardon Hunter.

Trump plays by no rules. Abuses the law.

He would’ve pardoned Hunter and called you a coward for not doing it.

— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) December 2, 2024

On ABC’s “The View,” cohosts Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg both argued that Trump made the Hunter pardon necessary simply by winning the 2024 presidential election — and claimed that “Biden had no intentions of pardoning” his son until that happened.

Whoopi RAGES at people upset about Joe pardoning Hunter:
"He's the president, the sitting president, and he can do whatever he wants to… I can't believe this is what's freaking people out! …What's good for the goose is good for the gander. We're moving on." pic.twitter.com/JkequKrwLH

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) December 2, 2024

On CNN, Republican commentator Scott Jennings pushed back on claims from some critics who said that Biden pardoning Hunter was no different than Trump pardoning some of his key allies on his way out of office in 2020.

“Listen, you guys can spend all day long trying to spin this, that this is Donald Trump’s fault that this is somehow caused by Donald Trump. ‘Oh, he’s appointing the wrong people.’ ‘Oh, he did it. Oh —'” Jennings said.

“This is the worst possible thing a President could possibly do to his party and to the country. To sit for a year and say, ‘I will not do this. I will not do this. The rule of law is sacred. We have to respect the justice system, juries. We have to respect juries. We have to respect the guardrails and the norms of our democracy,'” he continued. “These people are liars. ‘Inflation is transitory.’ ‘Afghanistan is a success.’ ‘The border is secure.’ ‘Robert Hur is a liar.’ ‘The videos are cheap fakes.’ ‘Biden has a cold.’ ‘He’ll never drop out.’ ‘Oh, I’ll never pardon Hunter.'”

“It’s all a lie. It is all a grift. Every American except the most partisan, brain-rotted people are going to be outraged by this today. He is going to leave off — you think 38, 39% job approval is bad? Just you wait. Just you wait. He’s disgraced — disgraced today. Outrageous,” he said.

CNN's @ScottJenningsKy with the mic drop to Karen Finney: "Stand up for yourself. You have to defend this. He's leaving office. You don't have to defend it. You don't have to die on this hill. You can say this is wrong because everybody knows that it is. It's wrong. Are you fine… pic.twitter.com/PmDKHoNCCP

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 2, 2024