Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said that President Donald Trump’s pardoning Jan. 6 defendants found guilty of violent crimes and/or who have pleaded to commit violent crimes “was a mistake”.
Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 defendants on his first day as president, Monday. The cases were related to events that took place at the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
Graham was one of several Senate Republicans who were offended by Trump’s pardoning of those who have committed violence against police officers, in particular.
Graham made the statement during an appearance on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
The senator said that Trump’s decision was not surprising.
“There are a lot of people who supported President Trump — law enforcement — [that] didn’t like this, but he said it during the campaign. He’s not tricking people,” Graham told host Kristen Welker. “I’ll be consistent here. I don’t like the idea of bailing people out of jail or pardoning people who burn down cities and beat up cops, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat.”
The senator stated that Trump’s pardons and those granted by former president Joe Biden to his family could lead to a reexamination of the power of the presidential pardon.
“You know, Biden pardoned half his family going out the door. I think most Americans, if this continues … will revisit the pardon power of the president,” Graham said.
Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader, called Trump’s pardons of more than 1,000 individuals charged with crimes related to the 2021 Capitol Attack “un-American” on Tuesday.
There is no other word to describe the pardon that President Trump gave for those who committed crimes on Jan. 6 than un-American. Schumer, speaking from the Senate floor, said: “Let’s be clear, President Trump did not pardon just protesters. He pardoned some people convicted of assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.”
