Democratic strategist David Axelrodstated on Tuesday that former President Biden bestowed “a gift” upon President Trump by pardoning his family mere minutes prior to the latter’s inauguration.
Axelrod characterized the action as “egregious,” arguing that Biden should not have undertaken it at the conclusion of his presidency.
“Man up, and if you’re gonna do it, do it, but don’t do it literally as you have one foot out the door so you don’t have to explain it or be accountable for it,” Axelrod said during a recent episode of the Hacks on Tap podcast.
“What they did was they gave Trump a gift because it fuzzied up the story, the J6 story for him,” he added.
Biden granted pardons to many family members shortly before the conclusion of his administration on Monday, eliciting criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.
Trump condemned the eleventh-hour pardons, asserting that the action rendered Biden appear “very guilty.”
Following Biden’s pardons on Monday, Trump similarly granted numerous pardons, including for over 1,000 individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
Axelrod stated that Biden’s action eventually obscured the events of January 6 for Trump.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, stated that Biden’s pardons constituted “a confession” of the Biden family’s criminality.
Simultaneously, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) scrutinized the scope of Biden’s pardons and their necessity.
Murphy is hardly the sole Democrat advocating for reform following the recent round of presidential pardons earlier this week.
House Democrats are currently advocating for Congress to limit the president’s pardon authority.
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