The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and bestselling author Peter Schweizer on a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
* * *
In the final minutes of his presidency, Joe Biden shocked the political world by issuing preemptive pardons for several of his own family members. The move has sparked outrage on both sides of the aisle – and sparked renewed calls for investigations into Biden family corruption. Morning Wire sat down with bestselling author Peter Schweizer to discuss the unprecedented Biden family pardons – and Republicans’ plans to follow the money.
JOHN: Joining us now is Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute and bestselling author of multiple books that address allegations of Biden family corruption. Peter, always great to talk with you, thanks for coming on.
PETER: Of course. Happy to be with you.
JOHN: We witnessed something this week that Joe Biden repeatedly told the American people he would never do – he preemptively pardoned members of his own family. Five of them. This comes after he did something else he swore he wouldn’t do, pardoned his son Hunter. So first, we hear the term “unprecedented” thrown around a lot. Is this unprecedented?
PETER: Yeah, there&#8217;s no example in American history of a family member of a sitting president being pardoned – no less five members of the family, or six if you include Hunter. Also, these sort of preemptive pardons are really unprecedented, and they will probably be tested in court.
JOHN: I would assume so. Now we’ve covered the Hunter pardon at length here – in fact, we had you on to talk about it at one point. We now have five more members of the Biden family. And again, like you said, these are preemptive pardons so different in kind. First, who exactly did he grant this blanket immunity to?
PETER: These are essentially his siblings and their spouses, and his son and his daughter. And what&#8217;s significant is all six of these people are individuals who are connected to LLCs, these limited liability companies that the family had multiple listings of. These are all entities that received money from foreign entities. It&#8217;s also important to point out, John, that each one of these pardons, whether it&#8217;s Hunter or the other five family members, the pardon specifically mentions any crimes that occurred beginning after January 1, 2014. That&#8217;s significant because all of the foreign deals – those involving China, Ukraine, and Russia – all started happening in early 2014, so they clearly seem to be dated and designed to cover the transfers of those foreign deals.
JOHN: Yeah, pretty revealing. Had the names of these particular members come up in investigations or claims by members of Congress?
PETER: Yes, in fact they had. James Comer (R-KY) mentioned all of them, I think. Comer actually has <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Presidents-Money-Investigating-Foreign/dp/0063420015">a new book</a> out, which is quite good by the way, where he mentions all of them. And I think there is a connection there. I think the fact that these are in the sights of congressional investigators is probably one of the things that prompted Joe Biden to issue this action. Keep in mind that this also, in a way, provides some protection of Joe Biden , because if you do believe this was an influence-peddling scheme, Joe Biden was certainly involved. And by pardoning his spouses and his children, it provides a guardrail of protection for him as well. So this is self-serving, not just something beneficial to his family.
<div id="attachment_865071" style="width: 391px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-865071" class="size-large wp-image-865071" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/81JL3vN6voL._SL1500_-381x576.jpg" alt="Credit: HarperCollins" width="381" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/81JL3vN6voL._SL1500_-381x576.jpg 381w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/81JL3vN6voL._SL1500_-199x300.jpg 199w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/81JL3vN6voL._SL1500_-768x1160.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/81JL3vN6voL._SL1500_.jpg 993w" sizes="(max-width: 381px) 100vw, 381px" />Credit: HarperCollins</div>
JOHN: You&#8217;ve been documenting for years the allegations of Biden family corruption. What is some of the more compelling evidence against them?
PETER: Well, I think the most compelling evidence is that they have collected tens of millions of dollars, some $31 million from these foreign entities, and there&#8217;s no evidence of them giving anything legitimate in return. In the case of China, for example, we know that they got $5 million from a Chinese businessman named Mr Zhao. There&#8217;s no evidence that anything was given to him in return of a business nature – and people generally don&#8217;t pass around $5 million without expecting something in return. That has always been the mystery. And the fact that the Bidens have A) denied that there was any money transference, and of course there was. And then B) they denied that Joe Biden was aware of this or involved. We now know that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/america-first-legal-new-photos-allegedly-prove-biden-muddied-vp-duties-and-hunters-business-deals">he met with several of these people</a>, which makes it very clear that they were trying to cover something up. What Joe Biden did specifically in return for those funds, we don&#8217;t know. But that&#8217;s why I think we need to have continued congressional investigations. It&#8217;s not about looking in the past and trying to punish a political opponent. It&#8217;s about trying to unpack exactly what was done for this money, so we can deter it from happening in the future with other political figures.
JOHN: Right, you bring up investigations. First of all, are Biden’s family members now truly immune from all charges that have any connection to this? And can Congress still investigate them? Does this block actual thorough investigations?
PETER: Those are great questions. Well, it&#8217;s going to be challenged in court. A lot of people question whether you can grant pardon for a crime that may or may not have been committed that you haven&#8217;t been charged for. That has never been done before, and there are a lot of legal scholars who say this just simply is too broad because you could essentially, under this construct, provide blanket immunity for a murder that was not discovered until later on, and that seems overly broad. As far as congressional investigations are concerned, absolutely they can continue to investigate. Jim Comer (R-KY), I talked to him a couple of days ago, and he told me he has advised the incoming Attorney General, Pam Bondi, that he believes that the Department of Justice needs to investigate this. You can do a criminal investigation, even if you&#8217;re not targeting the specific family member. I think Congress needs to investigate it because, again, it&#8217;s not just about what the Bidens did. One of the true things about Washington DC is, if people in power figure out a way to make money for their family, and they&#8217;re not going to be caught, they&#8217;re not going to be held liable, it will be imitated. So this notion of getting foreign entities to enrich your family when you&#8217;re a decision maker in a position to help or hurt them could become widespread, and I don&#8217;t think anybody wants that.
JOHN: There&#8217;s been a lot made of Trump coming in with retribution on his mind, but the argument that we are maybe exposed to national security risks from foreign entities that might have their hands in the pockets of people who have a lot of power – I would think that argument would win the day. You&#8217;ve mentioned maybe that these preemptive pardons might just collapse legally. Is there any other way to override or work around a presidential pardon of this nature?
PETER: Well, some people, like professor Alan Dershowitz – a Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard – has said that these pardons actually create problems for the Biden family, because now when you are asked questions by a congressional committee or by Department of Justice lawyers, you cannot plead the Fifth Amendment – because, of course, the Fifth Amendment prevents you from self-incrimination. Now, if you are exempt from being prosecuted for these crimes, you presumably cannot plead the Fifth Amendment. So it may actually make things harder for the family in terms of actually having to answer questions. But the key thing is those questions have to be asked. The Department of Justice, under Pam Bondi, who I think is going to be confirmed, and by the Congressional Oversight Committees, need to proceed. This is not about retribution; it&#8217;s not about being vindictive. That certainly seems to be what people have accused Trump of doing. But if you look at his first term as president, he certainly did not prosecute Hillary Clinton or anyone else. And there&#8217;s no reason to believe that that would be taking place here. It&#8217;s simply trying to get clarification and facts of what actually transpired and what these Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian entities actually got in exchange for sending millions of dollars to Joe Biden&#8217;s family.
<div id="attachment_864357" style="width: 896px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-864357" class="size-large wp-image-864357" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2187280340-886x576.jpg" alt="A November 29, 2024 photo shows US President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden stepping out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts on November 29, 2024. Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing for two criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm." width="886" height="576" />MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images</div>
JOHN: You bring up Pam Bondi. Judging by the Cabinet picks so far from Trump, what is the sense you get about the priority he&#8217;s laid out of weeding out government corruption. Do you feel that they&#8217;re fully invested in this project?
PETER: I think that&#8217;s going to be the central question, John, going forward, because you have these large institutions – the Department of Defense, for example, or the CIA – there&#8217;s a reason people call them “the deep state” because they&#8217;re deeply embedded within those bureaucracies. So you&#8217;re going to have somebody who is confirmed as the SECDEF or as the CIA director who&#8217;s going to be having to deal with bureaucracies that are trying to counteract what you&#8217;re doing. It&#8217;s very hard to fight that kind of trench warfare at the same time you&#8217;re carrying out policies to deal with, say, the threat from China, the threat from Russia. So, that is going to be the defining issue. But I think it is the battle that has to be fought because it comes down to the question of: Are we actually governed by the people we elect, that we have chosen to represent us? Or are government decisions being made by unelected bureaucrats? And are those unelected bureaucrats involved at some level in corruption? And I think the history of our country demonstrates that absolutely they are. So, to me, this is the marquee issue, and it&#8217;s a reflection of this broader concern that I have of what I call “the globalization of corruption.” When we think of corruption, we think of the guy who&#8217;s got a paving business back in some congressional district who wants some federal highway dollars steered his way by the congressman. What we&#8217;re talking about now are foreign governments, in some cases those that are hostile to the United States, giving money to our elected officials and getting something in return. So, this is not just rank and file corruption, which is bad enough. This is globalized corruption – and it&#8217;s only going to get worse, not better, unless we actually do something about it.
JOHN: I think you’re right. What do you expect to see in the coming weeks and months from the White House and the Republican-led Congress related to Biden family corruption and other sort of government level corruption issues?
PETER: Well, I think on Capitol Hill, the House Oversight Committee’s Jim Comer I think has done an excellent job. He&#8217;s fact-based, he&#8217;s driven, and he&#8217;s prepared to name names, which is the key in the investigation. So I expect a lot of activities in the House of Representatives. And I think in the Department of Justice, in the next several weeks, you&#8217;re going to see a series of reviews done by senior attorneys at DOJ under Pam Bondi making decisions about some of the very controversial things that have happened with regard to, say, Tony Fauci, who apparently lied before Congressional committees when he testified. What is the legal standard for lying before Congress? Did he cross that line? And is there a reason to open an investigation and to bring him in to ask him questions about that? So, I think there&#8217;s going to be a little bit of quiet before the storm because, again, when you&#8217;re dealing with these legal matters, you want to make sure that you are crossing all the T&#8217;s and dotting the I&#8217;s – because what gets you into trouble is when you don&#8217;t do the prep work, and Bondi certainly has a reputation for doing her prep work.
<div id="attachment_863203" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-863203" class="wp-image-863203 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194087519-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 15: Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing to be the next U.S. attorney general in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Bondi, who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump, defended him during his first impeachment trial in 2020 and publicly supported false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194087519-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194087519-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194087519-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2194087519.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</div>
JOHN: Yes, I think there’s no arguing that she’s someone who comes prepared. Final question: What do you expect from the Biden family? Will they withdraw from public life or try to stay politically relevant?
PETER: Well, I think one of the unanswered questions about the Biden family, and again, if you look at the pardons that were issued to Hunter Biden and the family, they run up specifically through December of last year. So any crimes that would have been committed in 2024 would be covered as well. And you wonder, well, what does that mean? Well, that could be the Hunter Biden art deals that were very controversial. But I also think it&#8217;s worth looking at this period when Joe Biden had that disastrous debate performance with Donald Trump, and he spent about four or five weeks refusing to get out of the race, and Hunter Biden moved into the White House. I believe – I don&#8217;t have evidence to confirm this – I believe that the Biden family negotiated financial deals to secure his exit from that race. Whether that crosses the legal line and is illegal, I don&#8217;t know, but I think that is worth looking into as well. It certainly fits their pattern of monetizing things. It certainly makes sense that Hunter Biden was at the center of it – that&#8217;s where a lot of this money would flow through. And that would of course raise questions about what they might be doing in the post-presidential years and the money they might be living off of in this case.
JOHN: Intriguing questions – and hopefully we do get some answers and Congress does pursue what I think the American people deserve to know has actually happened here. Peter, thank you so much for joining us.
PETER: It&#8217;s always a pleasure. Thanks, John.
JOHN: That was bestselling author and GAI president Peter Schweizer – and this has been a weekend edition of Morning Wire.
***

President Biden Delivers Farewell Address To The Nation

What The Preemptive Pardons Reveal About Biden Family Corruption: An Interview With Peter Schweizer

2024 Election

Books

China

Hunter Biden

James Biden

Joe Biden

Morning Wire

Peter Schweizer

No president in American history has ever pardoned his family members as he prepared to exit the Oval Office. Until <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a>.
Now, with Donald Trump’s successful return to the White House, many lawmakers and pundits have questions about Joe Biden’s unprecedented, sweeping pardons.
Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley sat down with bestselling author Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, to discuss Biden’s eleventh-hour moves for an episode of &#8220;Morning Wire&#8221; that will be released this weekend.
Schweizer, who has written several books about the Biden family, including “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Money-Powerful-Blind-Americans/dp/0063061198" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blood Money</a>” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Red-Handed-American-Elites-Helping-China/dp/0063061147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Red-Handed</a>,” began the conversation by stating flatly, “These sort of preemptive pardons are really unprecedented.”
With a final stroke of his pen, Biden granted pardons to five of his closest family members: His daughter Ashley Biden, his brother James and his spouse, and his sister Valerie and her spouse. Hunter Biden was pardoned by his father one month earlier, on December 2, 2024.
While politicians and pundits speculate and guess the motivation behind this recent round of pardons, Schweizer has an idea.
“What&#8217;s significant,” says Schweizer, “is all six of these people are individuals who are connected to LLCs, these limited liability companies that the family had multiple listings of.”
Not only do the LLCs offer a logical explanation for the sweeping pardons, but Schweizer believes they offer an even bigger clue as to why Joe Biden would finally agree to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
The pardons span a little over a decade, from January 1, 2014, to December 2024, making the time frame even more suspicious. These facts lead Schweizer to speculate that Joe Biden may have cut some kind of backdoor deal before bowing out of the presidential race in July 2024.
&#8220;I think one of the unanswered questions about the Biden family &#8212; and again, if you look at the pardons that were issued to Hunter Biden and the family, they run up specifically through December of last year. So any crimes that would have been committed in 2024 would be covered as well. And you wonder, well, what does that mean? Well, that could be the Hunter Biden art deals that were very controversial,&#8221; Schweizer said.
&#8220;But I also think it&#8217;s worth looking at this period when Joe Biden had that disastrous debate performance with Donald Trump, and he spent about four or five weeks refusing to get out of the race, and Hunter Biden moved into the White House,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I believe – I don&#8217;t have evidence to confirm this – I believe that the Biden family negotiated financial deals to secure his exit from that race. Whether that crosses the legal line and is illegal, I don&#8217;t know, but I think that is worth looking into as well. It certainly fits their pattern of monetizing things. It certainly makes sense that Hunter Biden was at the center of it – that&#8217;s where a lot of this money would flow through. And that would, of course, raise questions about what they might be doing in the post-presidential years and the money they might be living off of in this case.&#8221;
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Schweizer also argued that Biden&#8217;s sweeping pardons of his family members could come back to bite the former president, highlighting a point made by attorney Alan Dershowitz earlier this week. Dershowitz said that while Biden&#8217;s pardons protect his family from criminal charges, they take away their ability to plead the Fifth Amendment if they are subpoenaed by Congress, The Daily Caller <a href="https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2025/01/20/bidens-sweeping-last-minute-pardons-could-come-back-to-haunt-his-family-alan-dershowitz-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“One of the reasons the president gave [for the pardons] is he doesn’t want his relatives and friends and people who are good people in his view to be subject to the expenses of massive investigation. Duh, you didn’t stop that. Congress can still investigate all these people,” Dershowitz said.
“In fact, they’ve lost their Fifth Amendment privilege,&#8221; he added. &#8220;So, now, if Congress subpoenas them, they have to testify, they can’t claim the Fifth Amendment. So, your brother and all the others can be called in front of the Republican-controlled Senate committee or House committee.”
Schweizer acknowledged the critical role Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, may play in any new investigations into the Biden family business. He told &#8220;Morning Wire&#8221; that it&#8217;s important for Trump&#8217;s DOJ to continue looking into the Biden family&#8217;s business deals, saying it&#8217;s &#8220;not about retribution&#8221; or &#8220;being vindictive.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s simply trying to get clarification and facts of what actually transpired and what these Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian entities actually got in exchange for sending millions of dollars to Joe Biden&#8217;s family,&#8221; he said.

Joe Biden, Hunter Biden

Peter Schweizer Floats Theory On Why Biden Really Left The 2024 Race

Elections

Pardon

Politics

President Donald Trump on Monday is expected to issue an executive order to suspend the security clearances for the 51 national security officials who claimed that the report about Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation.
Trump will sign the executive order as part of his Day One agenda, which is expected to include signing more than 200 executive actions, including ones that eliminated DEI from federal offices and defined biological sex, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-take-more-than-200-executive-actions-day-one.amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In mid-October 2020, just ahead of a debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, 51 intelligence officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan and ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, signed a letter claiming the recently discovered laptop belonging to Hunter Biden had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” The letter went public on October 19, 2020, shortly after the New York Post published <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/14/email-reveals-how-hunter-biden-introduced-ukrainian-biz-man-to-dad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a bombshell report</a> detailing the laptop showed evidence that the elder Biden was involved in his son’s shady business dealings.
At the debate, Trump mentioned the laptop and, because of the letter, Biden was able to say that “50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plan.” Biden also added that “Four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage.”
But the laptop has been deemed authentic, including during Hunter’s gun trial. The 51 former intelligence officers have refused to apologize or admit they were wrong.
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Further, in 2023, emails revealed that former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell asked members of the intelligence community to add their names to the letter for the express purpose of giving Biden a talking point at the debate, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-cia-chief-sought-debate-talking-point-with-hunter-biden-laptop-letter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time. Brennan was one of the people Morell reached out to, and responded by saying: “Ok, Michael, add my name to the list. Good initiative. Thanks for asking me to sign on.”
Morell also told congressional Republicans that a call from Biden’s then-campaign adviser, Antony Blinken, had prompted the letter. Morell also testified that the chair of the 2020 Biden campaign, Steve Richetti, called him after the debate to thank him for getting the letter out.
Morell told congressional Republicans that the letter had two intents. “One intent was to share our concern with the American people that the Russians were playing on this issue; and, two, it was [to] help Vice President Biden,” he explained, <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2023-04-20-jdj-mt-to-blinken-re-public-statement-on-hunter-biden-emails_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a transcript</a> of his testimony.
Democrats accused Republicans of cherry-picking Morell’s testimony, claiming “no part of that interview demonstrates that Tony Blinken or any other Biden campaign official asked Mike Morell to write a letter about Hunter Biden’s laptop.”

Trump Suspends Security Clearances For 51 Officials Who Claimed Hunter Biden Laptop ‘Disinformation’

Donald Trump

Executive Orders

laptop computer

New York Post

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> claimed on Friday that as his failed presidency comes to an end, he has no plans to pardon himself — but he may issue preemptive pardons to some opponents of President-elect Donald Trump.
Biden made the remarks during a press conference from the White House when asked if he has &#8220;ruled out a pardon for yourself or any other additional members of the family.&#8221;
Reporter: “On pardons, have you ruled out a pardon for yourself or any other additional members of the family?”
“For myself?” Biden asked. “Well, why should I pardon myself?”
“No, I have no contemplation of pardoning myself or anything,&#8221; he claimed. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t do anything wrong.”
Biden said last summer that he would not pardon his son, convicted felon Hunter Biden, but later went back on his word following the election.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Reporter: “On pardons, have you ruled out a pardon for yourself or any other additional members of the family?”
Biden: “For myself?”
Reporter: “Yes, sir.”
Biden: “Well, why should I pardon myself?”
Reporter: “That&#8217;s what I&#8217;m asking.”
Biden: “No, I have no contemplation of… <a href="https://t.co/zLYo4fsIkC">pic.twitter.com/zLYo4fsIkC</a>
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1877857338440216844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
When asked if he could give reporters a sense of what additional pardons he was considering giving, Biden said the answer was &#8220;no.&#8221;
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/">JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25</a>
&#8220;It depends on some of the language and expectations that Trump broadcast in the last couple of days here as to what he&#8217;s going to do,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;The idea that he would punish people for not adhering to what he thinks should be policy as related to his well-being, is outrageous, but there&#8217;s still consideration of some folks that — nothing — but no decision.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Reuters’s <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffmason1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JeffMason1</a>: “Can you just give us a sense of what other pardons and commutations you&#8217;re considering in your last ten days?”
Biden: “Well, the answer is no, because two things. One is that — it depends on some of the language and expectations that Trump broadcast in… <a href="https://t.co/U77e5xBIoX">pic.twitter.com/U77e5xBIoX</a>
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1877863373502546131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2025</a></blockquote>

US-POLITICS-BIDEN-ECONOMY

Biden: No Plans To Pardon Myself; May Issue Preemptive Pardons For Trump Opponents

Executive

Toward the end of every year, fact-checking organization <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/politifact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PolitiFact</a> announces what has been selected as the &#8220;Lie of the Year&#8221; — and the outlet&#8217;s 2024 selection, at best, strains credulity.
&#8220;A lie marked a town and its residents in the name of campaign rage. It was absurd. It was consequential. Our Lie of the Year goes to Donald Trump and JD Vance for false claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pet dogs and cats,&#8221; a post on X read when the selection was announced.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A lie marked a town and its residents in the name of campaign rage. It was absurd. It was consequential. Our Lie of the Year goes to Donald Trump and JD Vance for false claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pet dogs and cats. <a href="https://t.co/tNXV83hk3T">https://t.co/tNXV83hk3T</a>
&mdash; PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) <a href="https://twitter.com/PolitiFact/status/1868995250208850339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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But the outlet&#8217;s &#8220;Lie of the Year&#8221; is not even something they can definitively prove is untrue. Earlier in the year, a number of reports had circulated about the small town of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-ohio-town-overrun-by-haitian-immigrants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Springfield, Ohio</a> — a town which had been inundated with large numbers of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-the-fact-that-made-us-angriest-this-year-politifact-trashed-over-bogus-lie-of-the-year">Haitian migrants</a> — suggesting that migrants had taken and eaten ducks they found at local parks. Other reports indicated that some of the migrants were eating domesticated animals such as dogs and cats. Trump &#8212; and Vance, who served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio &#8212; had simply repeated the reports as they heard them.
But what about the lies that have been proven to be untrue? Which of those might rise to the level of &#8220;Lie of the Year?&#8221;
If one were to take a consensus on the matter from X, the answer might be one of President Joe Biden&#8217;s more obvious whoppers: his repeated insistence that he would not issue a pardon for his embattled son, Hunter Biden.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Biden: I won’t pardon Hunter
Biden a few months later: pardons Hunter
This is a straight up lie.
Politifact’s “lie of the year” is a claim that they have no evidence to prove is false. <a href="https://t.co/8SRRKOboaZ">https://t.co/8SRRKOboaZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ff9tufDAhy">pic.twitter.com/Ff9tufDAhy</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1869081115476234530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Not only is it clear that Biden lied about his plan to pardon Hunter, it was also later revealed that the White House made a coordinated effort to push that lie until the last possible moment. But while a handful of the most loyal Democrat mouthpieces continued to defend Biden and gaslight the American people — claiming that it wasn&#8217;t really a lie — Biden&#8217;s promise not to pardon Hunter does not quite rise to &#8220;Lie of the Year&#8221; status.
An honorable mention should go to Biden&#8217;s claim that he would not drop out of the 2024 presidential race — a statement that was proved false when he did just that in late July, foisting Vice President Kamala Harris on the party that had rejected her bid for the 2020 presidential nomination.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I feel like Biden&#39;s &quot;I&#39;m not dropping out&quot; was more consequential but what do I know? <a href="https://t.co/TXAXkkorVp">https://t.co/TXAXkkorVp</a>
&mdash; Noam Blum (@neontaster) <a href="https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1869032510447140889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Kamala Harris is not and never was the Border Czar&#8221; should also rate a mention, particularly because left-leaning media <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/axios-clarified-2021-report-in-desperate-attempt-to-distance-vp-harris-from-border-czar-gig" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outlets like Axios</a> were forced to undermine their own reporting — which had labeled her the Border Czar when she was first charged with addressing the &#8220;root causes&#8221; of the crisis at the southern border — in their effort to claim that she had never, in fact, had that job.
The real &#8220;Lie of the Year&#8221; wasn&#8217;t just one lie, but a whole litany of lies, all based on a carefully coordinated deception authored by the White House and eagerly parroted by Democrats and their media surrogates: Joe Biden is fine.
Biden, by his own admission, has never been the most eloquent of speakers. But when his routine verbal foibles crossed the line from simple gaffes to obvious cognitive impairment, his administration either pretended nothing had happened, made excuses, or simply edited the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-admin-altered-transcript-of-bidens-garbage-insult-could-have-broken-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">White House transcript</a> to &#8220;fix&#8221; what he&#8217;d said.
When anyone dared to question Biden&#8217;s fitness for office, friendly media personalities like the hosts of ABC&#8217;s &#8220;The View&#8221; complained of &#8220;ageism&#8221; and then reminded their audience that President-elect Donald Trump is almost as old as Biden.
In March of 2024, MSNBC host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-scarborough-praises-best-biden-ever-says-to-critics-f-you-if-you-cant-handle-the-truth" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Scarborough</a> went to the mat for Biden, saying, &#8220;Start your tape right now, because I’m about to tell you the truth. And F you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second, and I’ve known him for years, the Brzezinskis have known him for 50 years.&#8221;
When Biden was caught on video wandering away from other world leaders — when he was supposed to remain where he was for a photo — the White House referred to the uncut and unedited video as a &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/media-goes-all-in-on-white-houses-cheap-fakes-narrative" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cheap fake</a>&#8221; designed to make Biden look bad. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greg-gutfeld-takes-apart-legacy-media-for-gobbling-up-cheap-fakes-spin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Legacy media</a> could not pick up their buckets and carry the administration&#8217;s water fast enough.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ORDERS RECEIVED: In the last 3 days, the corporate media has spent 49 hours circulating the White House&#8217;s &#8220;cheap fakes&#8221; talking point <a href="https://t.co/1R3tPmm7To">pic.twitter.com/1R3tPmm7To</a>
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1803468848319922636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2024</a></blockquote>
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After Biden&#8217;s disastrous debate performance on CNN, the White House claimed that he had been suffering from a cold — and despite a few calls from some in media suggesting it was time for Biden to step aside, the majority played along.
Even after longtime Democrat donor and actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/george-clooney-joins-chorus-of-stars-telling-biden-its-time-to-drop-out-of-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">George Clooney</a> called on Biden to step aside — and reports circulated that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and former President Barack Obama were leading the charge to oust Biden as the candidate — the White House insisted he was fine and was going nowhere. The ladies on &#8220;The View,&#8221; rather than acknowledging Biden&#8217;s obvious cognitive decline, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-view-scolds-george-clooney-for-op-ed-calling-on-biden-to-drop-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scolded Clooney</a>.
It was not until July 21 — when Biden issued a statement via social media announcing his plan to exit the race — that any real cracks began to form in the media&#8217;s protective wall around the 46th president.
And it wasn&#8217;t until after Vice President Kamala Harris had decisively lost her bid to succeed him in the White House that The Wall Street Journal published its lengthy report on just how deep the cover-up — in which Harris had certainly participated — had gone.
Despite all that, President Biden himself still appears unwilling to let go of the lie: The Washington Post reported recently that Biden has said he regrets dropping out of the race, and insists that he could have beaten Trump.
As CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford noted on Sunday, &#8220;I think that is either delusional or they are gaslighting.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: On CBS Face The Nation, <a href="https://twitter.com/JanCBS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JanCBS</a> Crawford calls out a report that Biden thinks he could have beaten Trump if he’d stayed in the race. “Incredibly, we read in the Washington Post that his advisors are saying he regrets dropping out of the race, he thinks he could have beaten… <a href="https://t.co/Vdma7JZN3K">pic.twitter.com/Vdma7JZN3K</a>
&mdash; TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TVNewsNow/status/1873687605478350891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
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PolitiFact, it should be noted, has made a few correct calls in the past — with the most obvious example being 2013. That year, the award went to former President Barack Obama&#8217;s Obamacare-pushing tall tale: &#8220;If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.&#8221;

G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio De Janeiro

PolitiFact’s ‘Lie Of The Year’ … Wasn’t. Here’s What They Should Have Chosen.

PolitiFact's 'Lie Of The Year' ... Wasn't. Here's What They Should Have Chosen.

Media

PolitiFact

As we prepare to enter the new year, we’re taking you back to some of The Daily Wire’s best reporting from 2024. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-joe-bidens-birthday-here-are-five-of-the-worst-moments-of-his-one-term-presidency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on November 20.
President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden&#8217;s</a> one term in the White House is coming to an end, and to celebrate, we’re looking back at some of the worst moments of his presidency.
This administration has racked up a buffet of scandals ranging from massive failures like the Afghanistan withdrawal to a shocking, politicized hurricane response this fall.
Over the past four years, critics have accused Biden of weakening national security, committing federal overreach, and leveraging the federal government to attack his political enemies.
With Biden’s one and only term winding down, here are five of his presidency’s worst moments.
<h3>Afghanistan Withdrawal</h3>
The Biden administration completed its disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, six months after Biden took office.
The botched operation resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members due to a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, which descended into chaos as terrified civilians tried to escape before the Taliban took over the country. Dozens of American citizens were left stranded in the country, and harrowing video of Afghan civilians clinging to a U.S. Air Force plane taking off went viral on social media.
The administration was fiercely criticized on both sides of the aisle for the deadly pullout and the damage it did to America’s standing on the world stage.
<h3>Vaccine Mandate Backlash</h3>
Just a month after the Afghanistan debacle, Biden <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/09/politics/joe-biden-covid-speech/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a new vaccine mandate that applied to larger private companies and would affect as many as 100 million Americans.
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” Biden said at the time of Americans who refused to get the vaccine.
This rule prompted severe backlash. Several companies, including The Daily Wire, <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/daily-wire-v-occupational-safety-and-health-administration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> over the mandate, and the Supreme Court ultimately <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-strikes-massive-blow-against-bidens-employer-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blocked</a> it four months later in January 2022.
<h3>Hunter Biden And Classified Documents</h3>
In January of last year, news broke that classified documents were discovered at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware. Some of the documents were being stored in a garage along with Biden’s Corvette.
“My Corvette is in a locked garage. It’s not like it’s sitting out in the street,” Biden said at the time.
The discovery sparked accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans who pointed out that the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s home in Florida, over the same issue — classified documents stored there.
Critics also wondered whether Hunter Biden, the president’s scandal-ridden son, had access to the classified documents. Hunter has been accused of influence-peddling in foreign countries using his father’s name.
<h3>Debate With Trump</h3>
Biden’s catastrophic presidential debate with Trump on June 27 effectively ended his half-century political career.
During the debate, Biden frequently lost his train of thought, spoke nonsensical sentences, and stammered, seeming to confirm the narrative that he was in mental decline and too old for a second term.
Following the debate, Democrats panicked and launched a pressure campaign led by Nancy Pelosi to force Biden out of the race, ultimately replacing him with Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost the election earlier this month.
<h3>FEMA Hurricane Scandal</h3>
The latest scandal to plague the Biden administration is The Daily Wire’s bombshell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> showing that a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor told workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” in Florida after Hurricane Milton.
Whistleblowers said at least 20 homes with Trump flags or signs were skipped. The supervisor has since been fired.
This week, lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee grilled FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on the incident.
The administration has made plenty of other moves that were widely criticized, including its response to both the Maui wildfires and the East Palestine train derailment.
The infamous FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 drew accusations that Biden was using the Justice Department to try to crush his political rival.
Biden has also suffered embarrassments in Congress. His signature legislation, the Build Back Better plan, collapsed when Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV), for years the most moderate Democrat in the Senate, withdrew his support and tanked the bill.
Out-of-control spending and spiking inflation, as well as the southern border crisis, were the two issues the Biden administration could not shake this presidential election cycle.
Biden approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus bill, the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act, which, despite its name, authorized hundreds of billions of dollars more in federal spending. Meanwhile, more than 12 million migrants have <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/2024/09/23/startling-stats-factsheet-biden-and-harris-border-crisis-still-wreaking-havoc-at-the-borders-and-in-the-interior/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crossed</a> into the U.S. illegally under the Biden administration.

Here Are Five Of The Worst Moments Of Biden’s One-Term Presidency

Here Are Five Of The Worst Moments Of Biden's One-Term Presidency

Afghanistan

Biden Administration

FEMA

White House

CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings laid into his fellow panelists on Sunday morning as they attempted to defend President Joe Biden&#8217;s legacy, saying that he didn&#8217;t believe the American people had not yet seen the worst of what the Biden administration had hidden from them.
Jennings delivered his assessment during a panel discussion on the network&#8217;s flagship Sunday political show, &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; and he argued that the Biden legacy was only going to get more tarnished with time.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottJenningsKY</a> just dismantled a CNN panel as they attempted to defend Joe Biden’s legacy:
&quot;I think he&#39;s going to leave office in disgrace.&quot;
&quot;The Hunter Biden pardon was disgraceful. He&#39;s going to be remembered largely for inflation and for the disastrous Afghanistan… <a href="https://t.co/V8dvlGW6LT">pic.twitter.com/V8dvlGW6LT</a>
&mdash; Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1873383595630281212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Democrat Karen Finney shared her thoughts on the matter first, giving him credit for navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and claiming that she believed the American people would look favorably on Biden&#8217;s record on the economy.
&#8220;Joe Biden’s record with regard to the things that he’s accomplished, I think will stand the test of time,&#8221; she began.
&#8220;It was very disturbing to learn late in the year about just how bad, how poor his health has become. And like many, I did not realize that it had gotten to that point,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;That being said, I think he’s still look, he showed up for the job. He got the work done. I think some of the accomplishments also in the Middle East and foreign policy will also stand the test of time.&#8221;
Jennings was not buying her assessment, however, and countered with his own take on the Biden legacy.
&#8220;You think the Middle East is in better shape today than when he took office?&#8221; Jennings asked, prompting Kinney to credit Biden with helping to secure the release of some of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Jennings appeared unswayed by that argument as well.
&#8220;Look, I think he’s going to I think he’s going to leave office in disgrace! The Hunter Biden pardon was disgraceful. He’s going to be remembered largely for inflation and for the disastrous Afghanistan pullout,&#8221; Jennings continued, going on to argue that he expected things to look worse and worse for Biden and his as time went on.
&#8220;And I think as we continue to we’re just getting the first draft of this now. But as we continue to learn about the massive cover-up that went on, not about his health, but about his mental acuity to cover that up, the efforts that were undertaken by the White House staff, by his family, not in the last couple of months, but for all four years,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think it’s going to be a really ugly chapter. It’s a diminished presidency because of it.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-BIDEN

‘A Really Ugly Chapter’: Scott Jennings Destroys Dem Panelist Defending Biden’s Legacy

'A Really Ugly Chapter': Scott Jennings Destroys Dem Panelist Defending Biden's Legacy

Scott Jennings

New photos obtained by America First Legal allegedly show that President Joe Biden, despite multiple claims to the contrary, mingled his official business as the sitting Vice President with his embattled son Hunter Biden&#8217;s personal business dealings in China.
America First Legal shared several photos in a thread on X, saying that they were taken during a trip Biden took to the communist nation in 2013 — and the photos show Hunter Biden, who had accompanied his father aboard Air Force Two.
One photo appears to show Biden, then the sitting vice president, as he introduced Hunter to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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/2 These photos shed light on the connections between then-Vice President Biden, Hunter and his Chinese business associates, and Chinese government officials, including President Xi Jinping.
&mdash; America First Legal (@America1stLegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/America1stLegal/status/1871255398172561625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;These photos shed light on the connections between then-Vice President Biden, Hunter and his Chinese business associates, and Chinese government officials, including Xi Jinping,&#8221; America First Legal posted.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/">50% OFF ALL DAILY WIRE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS FOR A LIMITED TIME!</a>
The photos, according to the organization, were obtained pursuant to a lawsuit filed against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in September of 2022 — and they were set to be released by NARA on October 23, 2024. That release was delayed by attorneys representing Biden.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
/4 Following the Presidential Records Act, NARA had planned to release these photographs on October 23, 2024 — thirteen days before Election Day. <a href="https://t.co/bK0F4Qv9mV">pic.twitter.com/bK0F4Qv9mV</a>
&mdash; America First Legal (@America1stLegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/America1stLegal/status/1871255712946418081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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/6 In 2013, then-Vice President Biden went on an official trip across Asia, including a stop in Beijing, China. In these newly-released photographs, Joe Biden appears to introduce his son, Hunter, to President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. <a href="https://t.co/chDitOGQIw">pic.twitter.com/chDitOGQIw</a>
&mdash; America First Legal (@America1stLegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/America1stLegal/status/1871256450024321330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Another photo appeared to show Biden introducing Hunter to China’s then-Vice President Li Yuanchao.
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/8 While they were in China, Joe Biden appeared to make time to meet with Hunter’s business associates at BHR Partners, including its CEO, Jonathan Li. <a href="https://t.co/wapWAH2hVW">pic.twitter.com/wapWAH2hVW</a>
&mdash; America First Legal (@America1stLegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/America1stLegal/status/1871256903860228437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Other photos included in the thread appear to show the vice president — who claimed to never have met with his son&#8217;s business associates — meeting with his son&#8217;s business associates.
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/10 These photos corroborate the House Oversight Committee’s investigative findings that Hunter Biden arranged for his father to meet with Jonathan Li and other BHR executives during the 2013 China trip, where “Mr. Li sought—and received—access to Vice President Biden’s political… <a href="https://t.co/KEGoURG1In">https://t.co/KEGoURG1In</a> <a href="https://t.co/sJrLMpWdpq">pic.twitter.com/sJrLMpWdpq</a>
&mdash; America First Legal (@America1stLegal) <a href="https://twitter.com/America1stLegal/status/1871258415483265316?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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And as noted in the thread, the photos appear to corroborate the findings of the House Oversight Committee&#8217;s investigation into the Biden family&#8217;s foreign business dealings.
&#8220;Mr. Li sought — and received — access to Vice President Biden’s political power, including, for example, preferential access to then-U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus … a condition of Hunter Biden and his associates participating in the BHR deal,&#8221; the report stated.
The new information comes after President Biden issued a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/liar-liar-biden-pardons-hunter-after-all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sweeping pardon</a> to his son Hunter, covering any federal crimes that may have been committed over more than a decade, whether or not charges have already been filed.

America First Legal: New Photos Allegedly Prove Biden Muddied VP Duties And Hunter’s Business Deals

America First Legal: New Photos Allegedly Prove Biden Muddied VP Duties And Hunter's Business Deals

Communist China

Xi Jinping

President Joe Biden claimed on Sunday that he had run a campaign free from scandal and critics were quick to point out the errors in that particular statement.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve run a campaign that&#8217;s basically scandal free. That&#8217;s hard to do in American politics these days,&#8221; Biden said.
Biden made the comments during the Democratic National Committee&#8217;s holiday reception in Washington, D.C. — where he also weighed in on the possible political future of Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-tells-kamala-youre-not-going-anywhere-kid-amid-speculation-about-vps-future">Kamala Harris</a>.
The Trump War Room&#8217;s Jacob Schneider posted a brief clip from the event along with a caption that read, &#8220;BIDEN: &#8216;We&#8217;ve run a campaign that&#8217;s basically scandal free. That&#8217;s hard to do in American politics.&#8217; (Except covering up his obvious cognitive decline, peddling his family&#8217;s influence, hiding classified documents, etc etc etc).&#8221;
WATCH: 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨 BIDEN: &quot;We&#39;ve run a campaign that&#39;s basically scandal free. That&#39;s hard to do in American politics.&quot;
(Except covering up his obvious cognitive decline, peddling his family&#39;s influence, hiding classified documents, etc etc etc) <a href="https://t.co/ey4gGYG8W8">pic.twitter.com/ey4gGYG8W8</a>
&mdash; Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) <a href="https://twitter.com/jacobkschneider/status/1868440728826982869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Critics pushed back on Biden&#8217;s claim, laying out a few details that they thought he must have missed when making his assessment.
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&#8220;Does Joe Biden not know what year it is?&#8221; Steve Guest asked, adding, &#8220;He’s cooked if he thinks this.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Does Joe Biden not know what year it is? <a href="https://t.co/L6O0Eu648R">https://t.co/L6O0Eu648R</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1868443373042094376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Sure, but only if we don&#8217;t include &#8211; Afghanistan Withdrawal &#8211; Illegal alien invasion &#8211; Being caught with classified docs &#8211; Cocaine in the White House &#8211; Chinese Spy Balloon &#8211; Medical Emergency forcing him out of the race &#8211; Lying about pardoning Hunter,&#8221; Shawn Farash posted in response.
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Sure, but only if we don&#39;t include 
&#8211; Afghanistan Withdrawal &#8211; Illegal alien invasion &#8211; Being caught with classified docs &#8211; Cocaine in the White House &#8211; Chinese Spy Balloon &#8211; Medical Emergency forcing him out of the race &#8211; Lying about pardoning Hunter
&mdash; Shawn Farash (@Shawn_Farash) <a href="https://twitter.com/Shawn_Farash/status/1868480597620043819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;So he won?&#8221; Stephen L. Miller added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
So he won? <a href="https://t.co/PfNBW5XMvQ">https://t.co/PfNBW5XMvQ</a>
&mdash; Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1868452723177480296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Joe Biden says his entire campaign was &#8216;scandal free,'&#8221; another posted, adding, &#8220;Who wants to tell him?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Joe Biden says his entire campaign was “scandal free”
Who wants to tell him? <a href="https://t.co/1QtgSZpUrI">https://t.co/1QtgSZpUrI</a>
&mdash; KᗴᒪᒪᗴY ✰ (@Patriotmom717) <a href="https://twitter.com/Patriotmom717/status/1868445219370209554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Biden raised eyebrows just last week when, just days after issuing a sweeping pardon to his embattled son Hunter Biden, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-announces-mass-commutations-after-criticism-over-hunter-pardon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commuted some 1500 sentences</a> in one day.
As The Daily Wire previously reported:
<blockquote>In addition to those granted clemency, Biden said he was also pardoning 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes, including drug offenses. In total, the White House said that Biden’s actions “represent the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.”</blockquote>
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

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classified documents

Kamala Harris

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said during an interview over the weekend that President Joe Biden set a &#8220;dangerous&#8221; precedent by pardoning his son.
Sanders made the remarks during a Sunday interview on NBC News&#8217; &#8220;Meet The Press&#8221; with Kristen Welker when asked about whether the administration should give blanket pardons to current officials so that they are immune from prosecution under the incoming Trump administration.
&#8220;Well, I&#8217;m a little bit nervous about it,&#8221; he said, adding that the White House &#8220;might want to consider&#8221; preemptive pardons &#8220;very seriously.&#8221;
Welker then asked Sanders about Biden&#8217;s lies to the American public that he would not pardon his son, convicted felon Hunter Biden.
&#8220;Senator, was it the right decision for the country to pardon Hunter Biden?&#8221; she asked.
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&#8220;When you have his opponents going after his family, as a father, as a parent, I think we can all understand Biden trying to protect his son and his family,&#8221; he said. &#8220;On the other hand, I think the precedent being set is kind of a dangerous one. It&#8217;s a very wide-open pardon which could under different circumstances lead to problems in terms of future presidents.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Bernie Sanders believes Hunter Biden pardon sets a &#8216;dangerous&#8217; precedent <a href="https://t.co/uSM0xQrFz0">pic.twitter.com/uSM0xQrFz0</a>
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1868362788084592960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2024</a></blockquote>

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders: Biden Set ‘Dangerous’ Precedent By Pardoning Son

According to a recent poll, just one in five Americans say they don&#8217;t take issue with President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden&#8217;s</a> decision to issue a sweeping pardon for his embattled son — Hunter Biden — with just weeks to go before he leaves the White House.
The survey was undertaken by <a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-pardon-poll-approve-disapprove-survey-cb7b7e4931b0a778bd0a68cc1733c4a9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a> — NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, and found that a majority of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, disapproved of Biden&#8217;s decision to pardon his son.
Just over 1,200 adults responded to the poll between December 5-9, and over all just 22% said that they approved of the pardon in question. Among Democrats, support for Biden&#8217;s pardon was slightly higher — 38% — but only 12% of independents and 7% of Republicans approved of the move.
One Republican who responded to the poll, Peter Prestia of northern New Jersey, explained, &#8220;I know it’s not right to believe politicians as far as what they say compared to what they do, but he did explicitly say, &#8216;I will not pardon my son.&#8217; So, it’s just the fact that he went back on his word.&#8221;
&#8220;He does have that right to pardon anybody he wants. But he just should have kept his mouth shut, and he did it because it was before the election, so it’s just a bold-faced lie,&#8221; Prestia added.
Texas Democrat Trinell Champ added, &#8220;Don’t say you’re gonna do something and then fall back. At the end of the day, all you have is your word.&#8221;
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Since the pardon was issued over the long Thanksgiving weekend, most of the criticism aimed at President Biden has been primarily directed toward his oft-repeated promise not to pardon his son.
Among those who said they were fine with Biden&#8217;s pardon, regardless of his previous promises not to do so, was Ohio Democrat Robert Jenkins.
&#8220;Do you have kids? You’re gonna leave office and not pardon your kid? I mean, it’s a no-brainer to me,&#8221; Jenkins said.

Poll: Just 1 in 5 Americans Are Fine With Joe Biden Pardoning Hunter

Polls

White House Press Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/karine-jean-pierre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karine Jean-Pierre</a> snapped at a reporter during Friday&#8217;s press briefing when confronted about President Joe Biden lying to the American people about pardoning his son, convicted felon Hunter Biden.
The exchange came after Biden pardoned his son last week and then took a trip to Africa and Biden&#8217;s White House communications team avoided doing on-air press briefings for several days, likely hoping that they would not be asked on camera about their repeated lying to the American public that Biden would not pardon his son.
&#8220;Zeke asked this question. I just didn’t hear an answer,&#8221; CNN&#8217;s MJ Lee began. &#8220;The next time that the president says he will or won’t do something, why should the American people believe him?&#8221;
&#8220;I answered that question,&#8221; Jean-Pierre claimed. &#8220;I don’t have anything else to add.&#8221;
Lee again pressed Jean-Pierre to answer, to which KJP claimed: &#8220;I answered the question. I answered the question.&#8221;
Lee politely asked Jean-Pierre if she could explain it in a way that was understandable for the American public.
Jean-Pierre responded by insulting Lee, suggesting that she was not smart enough to understand her response.
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&#8220;I can’t speak to you understanding the question or not or my answer or not on this,&#8221; Jean-Pierre snapped back. &#8220;I don’t have anything else to say. I’m not gonna re-litigate this. I did this on Monday for 30 minutes. I went back and forth.&#8221;
She claimed that Biden put out a &#8220;really comprehensive&#8221; statement explaining his decision to pardon his son for gun crimes, tax crimes, and other crimes that he may have committed.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
CNN’s <a href="https://twitter.com/mj_lee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MJ_Lee</a>: “Zeke asked this question. I just didn’t hear an answer. The next time that the President says he will or won’t do something, why should the American people believe him?”
KJP: “I answered that question. I don’t have anything else to add.”
Lee: “Well, what’s your… <a href="https://t.co/kA9CY72xCy">pic.twitter.com/kA9CY72xCy</a>
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1865131868565443011?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Holds White House Media Briefing

Karine Jean-Pierre Snaps At Reporter When Confronted About Biden’s Lying To Public

Karine Jean-Pierre

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