Trump blasts Biden over family pardons & insists ex-prez should’ve issued one for himself in first Oval Office interview
DONALD Trump has slammed Joe Biden's final executive clemency acts and insisted his predecessor should've issued one for himself.
In his first sit down interview since returning to office, President Trump discussed Biden's final move as president, where the former commander-in-chief issued pardons for five members of his family.
With less than 20 minutes remaining in Biden's presidency, the White House announced the pardons moments before Trump and Vice President JD Vance were set to take the oath of office at the Capitol Rotunda.
Biden's clemency actions shielded five of his family members, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and former Representative Liz Cheney from political prosecution by Trump, who had previously threatened to go his opponents upon his return to power.
The Biden family members included the former president's sister Valerie Owens and her husband John Owens, brothers Francis Biden, James Biden, and James' wife, Sara Jones.
President Trump condemned his predecessor's move after he declined to the same in his final hours in office in 2021.
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"[Biden] heard I was going to do it, I didn't want to do it," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity.
"I was given the option, they said, 'Sir, would you like to pardon everybody, including yourself?'
"I said, 'I’m not going to pardon anybody. We didn’t do anything wrong.' And we had people that suffered, they’re incredible patriots.
"We had people that suffered, you had [Steve] Bannon put in jail, you had Peter Navarro put in jail.
"We had people that suffered. And far worse than that, they lost their fortunes. They lost their nest egg paying it to lawyers."
President Trump continued, "And those people they wouldn't have even taken the pardon.
"This guy went around giving everybody pardons."
However, Trump highlighted that Biden did not give himself a pardon.
"You know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn't give himself a pardon, and if you look at it it all had to do with him," the president added.
Biden defended his action, saying "baseless and politically motivated investigations" wreak havoc on peoples lives.
"I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics," Biden wrote.
"But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.
"Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances."
In his interview with Hannity from the Oval Office, Trump reflected on his triumphant return to the presidency.
"Well, it was a lot of work and as you know, I felt that we shouldn't have had to necessarily be here," the president said of the current state of the nation.
"It could have been done, a lot of work could have been done, it would have been over.
"We wouldn’t have inflation, we wouldn’t have had the Afghanistan disaster, we wouldn’t have October 7 with Israel, where so many people were killed and you wouldn’t have a Ukraine war going on.
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"But with all that being said, I think it’s bigger. It’s bigger than if it were more traditional."
Trump's full interview with Hannity is set to air at 9 pm EST on Fox News.
