President-elect Donald Trump predicted President Joe Biden would pardon his criminal son Hunter even as the elder Biden repeatedly denied he would do so.
President Biden shocked the establishment media and many around the world Sunday by announcing a full and complete pardon of Hunter despite repeatedly stating unequivocally he would not do so. Hunter was found guilty earlier this year on three federal gun charges but has faced numerous legal issues and intense scrutiny from Capitol Hill investigators.
Trump, who predicted the pardon in October, was likely unsurprised.
“I’ll bet you the father probably pardons him, let’s see what happens, but he’s a bad boy, there’s no question about it,” Trump told Bill Melugin of Fox News on October 24, 2024, when asked if he himself would be open to pardoning Biden’s son.
Biden told ABC News in June after Hunter was found guilty of the federal gun charges, “I will not pardon him.” He and his press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lied for years that Biden would not pardon Hunter or commute his sentence.
In a Sunday statement, President Biden said the charges against his son “came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” accusing those unnamed forces for Hunter’s plea deal unraveling as well.
“Enough is enough,” he added.
In her first press briefing after Election Day, just days before the pardon, Jean-Pierre replied, “no,” when asked if the president would pardon his son before Trump’s next administration begins.
The younger Biden was scheduled to be sentenced December 12.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.