FACT CHECK: Can Joe Biden Pardon Luigi Mangione?

A viral post shared on X purports President Joe Biden can pardon Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Maryland native accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

biden has the chance to pardon luigi mangione and it would be the funniest thing ever

— future dilf in-law (@iamtristanscott) December 9, 2024

Verdict: False

The claim is false. According to Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, presidential pardons do not apply to state criminal offenses.

Fact Check:

Biden pardoned 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes and commuted the sentences of almost 1,500 others, marking the most ever in a single day, according to the White House, Reuters reported. Biden also recently pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, the outlet indicated.

The X post, which has amassed over one million views as of writing, claims Biden can pardon Mangione.

“Biden has the chance to pardon Luigi Mangione and it would be the funniest thing ever,” the post, which does not provide a source to support its claim, reads.

The claim is false. Subsequent replies made by the same social media user @iamtristanscott, who shared the original post, indicate he was just joking. In addition, the social media user admitted he is aware that presidential pardons do not apply to state criminal offenses.

“Before people start going off in the comments I KNOW IT’S A STATE CRIME AND BIDEN COULDN’T DO IT BUT IT’S STILL FUNNY TO IMAGINE,” he wrote.

According to Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, presidential pardons do not apply to state criminal offenses or federal or state civil claims. Presidential pardons also “cannot be used ‘in Cases of impeachment,’” the same clause states.

Biden does not appear to have publicly commented on the claim via his personal or government X accounts. The White House has not publicly commented on the claim, either. (RELATED: Video Claims To Show Alleged CEO Shooter On YouTube)

Furthermore, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim. In fact, the opposite is true. On Dec. 10, Lead Stories debunked the claim, citing the same clause of the U.S. Constitution, which outlines the limitations of presidential pardons.

According to Lead Stories, prosecutors in Manhattan charged Mangione with murder, while Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and law enforcement officials “announced the forgery arrest of Mangione” during a Dec. 9 news conference.

Mangione was identified and arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, CNN reported.

A gun Mangione was carrying at the time of his arrest matches that of shell casings found at the scene of Thompson’s murder, according to USA Today. Likewise, fingerprints matching those of Mangione were found on items near the scene of the shooting, the outlet indicated.

Thompson was shot and killed in New York on Dec. 4 ahead of UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference, The Associated Press reported.