Dem Rep. Crockett: Biden ‘Believed’ He Wasn’t Going to Pardon Hunter, But Trump Made Him Change

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) stated that “when the President said that he had no intentions of pardoning his son, I absolutely believe that he believed that in that moment.” But “circumstances have changed. Not only did he not end up becoming the Democratic nominee to go into a second term,” and “we now know that we have someone who is a convicted criminal that is going into the White House and, seemingly, is surrounding himself with questionable figures. And the retribution that he’s talked about seeking on the trail, I think that the President is taking him at his word and he’s decided that he is going to protect his only son.”

Crockett said, [relevant remarks begin around 5:10] “[W]hen we look at this, and as somebody who serves on Oversight, I saw it up close and personal. Listen, this was gamesmanship. They were going after his only son so that they could try to get at him. This was all about politics. And, at the end of the day, when the President said that he had no intentions of pardoning his son, I absolutely believe that he believed that in that moment.”

Host Laura Coates then cut in to ask why President Biden said he was not going to pardon Hunter.

Crockett responded, “I can’t tell you why he did it. I can tell you that, at the time that he said it, though, he was number one, the Democratic nominee to go after a second term, and circumstances have changed. Not only did he not end up becoming the Democratic nominee to go into a second term, we know that Trump and his administration, you were just talking about in your lead-in about Kash Patel. And so, not only is it that we lost, but we now know that we have someone who is a convicted criminal that is going into the White House and, seemingly, is surrounding himself with questionable figures. And the retribution that he’s talked about seeking on the trail, I think that the President is taking him at his word and he’s decided that he is going to protect his only son.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett