President-elect Donald Trump harshly criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, calling it “an abuse and miscarriage of justice” in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.
Trump accused Biden of using presidential powers inappropriately, likening the pardon to the broader weaponization of the justice system.
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump wrote, referencing individuals accused of participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
His comments came after President Biden announced he had signed the pardon for his son, arguing that the charges against Hunter were politically motivated.
“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,” President Biden said in a statement.
He added, “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. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
The pardon has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans, including Trump’s allies in Congress. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the House Oversight Committee, accused Biden of lying about his son’s legal troubles and his family’s business dealings.
“The president has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence-peddling activities,” Comer said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). “Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden.”
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung echoed these criticisms, describing the pardon as evidence of a justice system manipulated by Democrats.
In a statement to NewsNation, Cheung said, “Failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled [Department of Justice] and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system.
That system of justice must be fixed, and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.”
While Trump frequently alleged during Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial that the president’s son received preferential treatment, he recently suggested that a pardon for Hunter might be considered under his administration. Late last month, Trump said he wouldn’t rule out issuing a pardon for Hunter if he won the election.
The Hunter Biden pardon has reignited political tensions, with Republicans framing the move as an abuse of power and Democrats arguing that it reflects an effort to correct a system that has been influenced by partisan politics.
The fallout from Biden’s decision is likely to continue as Trump and his allies focus on the issue during his transition to the White House.