Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) called on President Biden to pardon President-elect Donald Trump Monday — for the sake of balance — a day after the commander in chief issued one to his troubled son, Hunter Biden.
“I am just saying, wipe them out,” Manchin, a former Democrat who is retiring from the upper chamber at the end of the year, told CNN.
“Why don’t you go ahead and pardon Donald Trump for all his charges and make it, you know, it would have gone down a lot more balanced, if you will,” the senator added.
Biden, 82, claimed he decided to issue the sweeping pardon to his 54-year-old son, who earlier this year was convicted of federal gun charges and pleaded guilty to federal tax crimes, because Hunter was being “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended the move and claimed so-called “war politics” had prompted Hunter’s legal woes.
Trump, 78, has similarly claimed that four criminal cases against him — for allegedly mishandling classified documents, attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, falsifying business records and interfering in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election — were politically motivated.
The president-elect was charged in all four cases — two federal and two state — after announcing his 2024 White House bid.
“The president has to be the president for the next four years, fighting all these criminal [cases] and all this other stuff’s coming after him,” Manchin said. “Just clean that slate up.”
The West Virginia senator added that the shocking pardon, which the White House repeatedly insisted over the past two years was not in the offing, made Biden’s legacy “difficult.”
Several of Manchin’s Senate colleagues, including a number of Democrats, have slammed the president’s decision to pardon Hunter.
“President Biden’s decision put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wrote on X Monday.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said it was “wrong” for Biden to absolve his son’s crimes.
“A president’s family and allies shouldn’t get special treatment,” Peters said in an X post. “This was an improper use of power, it erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.”
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) tweeted that the pardon was “unwise.”
“President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter is, as the action of a loving father, understandable — but as the action of our nation’s Chief Executive, unwise,” Welch said.
Several House Democrats were also critical of the president.
“As a father, I get it. But as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it’s a setback,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) wrote on X.
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) argued that the pardon would be used against Democrats in Trump’s second term.
“I know that there was a real strong sentiment in, you know, wanting to protect Hunter Biden from unfair prosecution,” Ivey told CNN. “But this is going to be used against us when we’re fighting the misuses that are coming from the Trump administration.”
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) dismissed Biden’s claim that his son was being targeted for political reasons.
“This wasn’t a politically motivated prosecution,” Stanton wrote on X. “Hunter committed felonies and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said the pardon sets a “bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents.”
The Mile High State governor, who has been floated as a possible 2028 presidential contender, insisted that the move will “sadly tarnish his reputation.”
“When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation,” Polis wrote on X. “Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) fumed that Hunter was “gifted special treatment.”
“President Biden’s pardon of his son confirms a common belief I hear in Southwest Washington: that well-connected people are often gifted special treatment by a two-tier justice system,” the congresswoman wrote on X.
“The President made the wrong decision. No family should be above the law,” she added.
Lame duck Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who lost his re-election race to Republican Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy last month, wasn’t in the mood to discuss the Hunter pardon.
“I’m about to get the f–k out of here. Ask somebody else,” he told reporters.
