After Biden Commutes Sentences Of 1,500 People, GOP Critics Call It A Ploy To Deflect From Pardon Of Son Hunter

Last week, President Joe Biden announced that he would pardon 39 people and commute the prison sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals, resulting in the “largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history,” according to the White House.

The White House released short biographies of each of the 39 individuals pardoned by Biden. Most committed non-violent drug offenses as teenagers or young adults in their early 20s. Many of the individuals have continued their education; some have earned advanced post-baccalaureate degrees, and several have given back to the community in various ways, such as volunteering, teaching or previous military service. 

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden wrote in the statement, “As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities.”

According to the White House, Biden’s actions demonstrate his commitment to criminal justice reform and to helping “reunite families, strengthen communities, and reintegrate individuals back into society.”

Federal convictions make it challenging to obtain educational resources, employment, housing and health care, which are all “essential to living a healthy and productive life,” according to a White House fact sheet. The White House claims that through Biden’s use of the clemency power, he “has taken steps to unlock doors of opportunity that would have otherwise remained closed to these recipients.”

Biden is also the first president to “issue categorical pardons,” according to the White House, pardoning “individuals convicted of simple use and possession of marijuana, and to former LGBTQ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation.”

To conclude his statement, Biden said that he “will take more steps in the weeks ahead” and assured that his “administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances.”

Republican critics saw the move as a transparent ploy to deflect from his pardon of his son, Hunter. Right-wing political analyst Glenn Greenwald wrote on X, “There are endless hilarious clips of liberal pundits heralding Joe Biden as one of history’s most honorable men for refusing to pardon Hunter. But if forced to choose, this is the best: to show how liberals think, how they speak, their oozing sanctimony.”