Former First Lady Jill Biden appeared in a CBS interview this week and finally addressed one of the most controversial decisions of Joe Biden’s presidency: the last-minute pardon of Hunter Biden after the former president repeatedly told the American people he would not do it.
Her answer did not clear anything up. It made the situation look even worse.
During the CBS interview with Rita Braver, Jill Biden was asked about Joe Biden’s repeated promise that he would not pardon Hunter. The former president made that pledge publicly, more than once, while insisting he would respect the justice system.
Then, after Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Biden reversed course and issued a sweeping pardon for his son.
Jill Biden defended the decision by claiming that “things changed” after Trump was elected and that the family believed Hunter would be targeted by a Trump Justice Department.
That explanation gives away the entire game.
Joe Biden did not suddenly discover new evidence. He did not suddenly realize the case was unfair.
According to Jill Biden’s own explanation, the political calculation changed after Trump won. In other words, Biden’s promise not to pardon Hunter only mattered as long as Democrats believed they would stay in power.
The former first lady also claimed the family “could not let” Hunter go to jail for a charge she said no one goes to jail for. But the issue was never only the pardon itself. The issue was the lie.
Joe Biden looked into the cameras, presented himself as a man of principle, and told Americans he would not use presidential power to protect his own son. Then he did exactly that.
The same interview also addressed Biden’s preemptive pardons for other family members. Jill Biden suggested those pardons were issued because the family believed Trump would target them as well.
That argument is difficult to take seriously after four years of the Biden Justice Department going after Donald Trump, his allies, and ordinary Americans who opposed the regime’s political priorities.
Hellbound and Down 