{"id":423967,"date":"2024-11-28T11:02:43","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T11:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=423967"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"The-View-Cohosts-Debate-Whether-Joe-Biden-Should-Pardon-Son-Hunter-Before-Leaving-Office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/The-View-Cohosts-Debate-Whether-Joe-Biden-Should-Pardon-Son-Hunter-Before-Leaving-Office\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The View\u2019 Cohosts Debate Whether Joe Biden Should Pardon Son Hunter Before Leaving Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White House\u2019s traditional<\/span> Turkey Pardon<\/span><\/a> took place at the start of the week, with outgoing President Joe Biden giving Peach and Blossom a new lease on life. On Wednesday\u2019s (November 27) episode of<\/span> The View<\/span><\/em><\/a>, the cohosts decided to discuss a very different kind of presidential pardon: Biden\u2019s own son Hunter Biden.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter Biden, who has admitted to overcoming addiction,<\/span> pleaded guilty<\/span><\/a> to three federal counts of tax evasion, with additional related misdemeanors, and was found guilty of<\/span> three counts<\/span><\/a> of illegal purchase of a firearm. He is<\/span> awaiting sentencing<\/span><\/a> on both, but his father, the sitting president, has<\/span> insisted<\/span><\/a> he will not pardon him for any crime, even after the results of the election. However, there is a growing call for Joe Biden to either pardon his son or commute his sentence, especially since Trump\u2019s own charges have disappeared<\/a>, and several members of<\/span> The View<\/span><\/em>\u2018s panel are among those calling for just that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whoopi Goldberg<\/span><\/a> introduced the matter by noting, \u201cThere\u2019s a much more serious pardon that many people are wondering about, and that is people are wondering, should Biden pardon his son Hunter or does that make him an even bigger target for You Know Who coming in? It\u2019s an interesting question, which I pose to you all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alyssa Farah Griffin<\/span><\/a> was the first to answer and had mixed feelings on the matter, saying, \u201cSo personally, I think I would pardon my child. I don\u2019t even have kids, I\u2019d bury a body for my child. So I get it as a personal decision. I worry a little bit about the implications for the country. And I mean this not because Hunter Biden affects the country, but because there\u2019s such a distrust in the powerful, the politically connected. There\u2019s this idea that there\u2019s a different system of justice. We just saw Donald Trump, his indictments go away because he\u2019s in power. I feel like this would add to that. And then think of the fact that you\u2019ve got a lot of people who are wrongly incarcerated right now or they\u2019re incarcerated on minor charges, who don\u2019t have a connected, powerful father. So I have very mixed feelings on it. If he does it, there will certainly be a lot of criticism and a lot of people who will praise it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"'The<\/a><\/p>\n
Related<\/div>\n

‘The View’ Cohosts Slam Trump Case Dismissals<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ana Navarro<\/span><\/a>, however, was strongly in favor of a Biden pardon, saying, \u201cWell, Jared Kushner had a powerful, connected father-in-law, right? Because one of the people that Donald Trump pardoned in his first term was Charlie Kushner, Jared Kushner\u2019s father, who pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness, and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission. So I would say if people didn\u2019t have an issue with Trump pardoning his son-in-law\u2019s father, I don\u2019t think they should have a nation with Joe Biden pardoning his son.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Griffin then countered that two wrongs don\u2019t make a right, saying, \u201cI think a lot of the country might have an issue with both, with the idea that the politically connected\u2026\u201d But<\/span> Joy Behar<\/span><\/a> quickly interrupted to point out that it\u2019s not just two wrongs we\u2019re talking about here: \u201cWe do know that Trump is going to be handing out pardons like cheeseburgers as soon as he gets into office,\u201d she said, which Sunny Hostin concurred with. \u201cAnd to the people who have actually stormed the Capitol,\u201d Behar further clarified of Trump\u2019s<\/span> apparent pardon plans<\/span><\/a> upon taking office.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the issues that I have is when you look at the charges that Hunter Biden was indicted on, less than .09 percent of the population is indicted on that charge, and so it\u2019s basically close to zero. So I actually think that the only reason he was indicted is<\/span> because<\/span><\/em> his last name is Biden,\u201d Hostin then offered. \u201cSo if you look at it like that\u2026 then it is the right thing to do to correct course and correct that wrong and pardon his son. The other piece of this is Hunter Biden has acknowledged his addiction. He is an addict, and in the law, you know, there are all sorts of ways to handle people that commit crimes because of their addiction. There are drug deferment programs. And he should be someone that should be treated a bit differently because of the addiction. And I would support not only, I think, his pardon on the illegal gun application one, but the other one in California as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sara Haines<\/span><\/a> was less convinced by that argument but also had her own reasons for favoring a pardon for Hunter Biden. \u201cNormally, I take what you\u2019re saying, Sunny \u2026 But I think President Biden always recognized that and still took the higher road of what it meant for the country, even in how he talked about it and handled it,\u201d Haines explained. \u201cBut I\u2019m exhausted, and I think Biden has taken such a punching this time, with all the losing the election, having to hand it off, the way everything\u2019s gone, that I just feel like this would be the one thing I would wish for him that he could just say, \u2018You know what, I\u2019m out. And so is Hunter.’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey should also pardon those dogs that bit the Secret Service agents. Those dogs need to be pardoned,\u201d Behar added.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPardon Commander Biden, that I\u2019m on board with!\u201d Griffin said with a laugh to close the conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The View<\/em><\/strong>, Weekdays, 11 a.m. ET, ABC<\/strong><\/p>\n

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