Viral video shows Democrats being hypocrites about pre-emptive presidential pardons

Former President Joe Biden issued some very controversial pardons just before exiting the Oval Office, and many are finding Democrats’ reactions to be hypocritical.

Biden issued pre-emptive pardons for members of his family as well as political figures who have earned the ire of President Donald Trump, but many Democrats criticized just such pardons not too long ago. In 2020, a report surfaced that Trump might issue pardons for Rudy Giuliani as well as Trump’s adult children.

‘If you haven’t done anything wrong, you sit there and go, “What do you need a pre-emptive pardon for?'”‘

Left-wing commentators issued their disfavor at the time, and a viral video captured their sentiments to show the hypocritical double standard.

MSNBC host Joy Reid implied that a pre-emptive pardon would only be given to someone who had committed a crime.

“Have you ever heard of somebody getting a pre-emptive pardon who is innocent of all crime, who is just an innocent person, have you ever heard of that?” asked Reid of Democratic then-Rep. Adam Schiff of California.

“No, it’s the president’s own family! It’s people that have been covering up for the president in addition to his own family,” said Schiff at the time.

Another exchange showed MSNBC’s Brian Williams interviewing Andrew Weissmann, the former lead prosecutor for special counsel Robert Mueller.

“Is there an innocent explanation for someone to seek pre-emptive pardons for family members? Would you do that if you knew you were innocent and just worried about outside forces?” asked Williams.

“The answer to that is gonna be no,” responded Weissmann. “If you haven’t done anything wrong, you sit there and go, ‘What do you need a pre-emptive pardon for?'”

Chris Hayes of MSNBC excoriated the “magic pardon wand” when it was reported that Trump might wield it.

“The idea of a kind of prospective pardon, this sort of permanent federal ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, that seems to be what we’re talking about in the case of, this, Giuliani and [Trump’s] three eldest children, who, as far as we know, have not been convicted of a crime,” said Hayes.

“Maybe they’ve committed a lot!” he laughed. “And they don’t want to face action! I don’t know. It’s weird; I wouldn’t ask for a pardon. I don’t think I deserve one, because I don’t think I’ve done anything criminal. But like, where does that come from, that concept that you can just kind of wave your magic pardon wand?”

Other figures, including commentator Elie Mystal, expressed outrage on the viral video with more than 1.2 million views.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!