‘Stain On His Legacy’: CNN’s John King, David Axelrod Rip Biden For ‘Slipping’ In Last-Minute Pardons For Family

CNN’s John King and David Axelrod scrutinized former President Joe Biden for “slipping” in last-minute pardons for members of his family Monday right before exiting office.

Biden pardoned his brothers James and Frank, his sister-in-law Sara Biden and his sister Valerie and her husband, John Owens just moments before President Donald Trump was sworn in at the Capitol Rotunda. King said the now-former president’s action is “unseemly” and should have “looked the American people in the eye” to explain his decision.

“It’s just unseemly. If you’re going to do it, have the courage to do it in the light of day and explain it to the American people,” King said. “It’s a stain on his legacy to do it like this. We can have an argument on ‘is it necessary, has Donald Trump promised retribution?’ Yes, he is. But I just, if you’re the President of the United States who said the curse of Donald Trump was that he didn’t respect democracy and didn’t respect norms, have the courage to look the American people in the eye and explain what you’re doing.”

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Axelrod argued that Biden’s sudden action suggested that there was “something wrong” with pardoning his family members, and stated that Trump’s previous promise for “retribution” does not explain why the former president waited until his remaining minutes in office.

“The way it was done suggests that there was something wrong with doing it. He tried to slip it in in the final minutes … But the fact is, Trump has been saying this for a long time. That doesn’t explain why in the last 10 minutes of your presidency, you slip a release out. It just made the whole thing look tawdry,” Axelrod said.

The last-minute pardon followed Biden’s pardoning of his son, Hunter, in December for all crimes he may have committed from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 1, 2024. The former president and former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly promised that Hunter would not receive a pardon from his father relating to his conviction for unlawfully purchasing a gun and over his charges alleging that he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes.

Despite the fact that Biden’s Department of Justice oversaw the investigations into Hunter, Biden said his family was the victim of “the worst kind of partisan politics.”

James was connected to Hunter’s overseas business dealings, while Frank used his brother’s inauguration in January 2021 to promote his law firm in Florida in connection to a lawsuit against sugar farmers and reportedly interrupted business meetings to speak with the “big guy” while working for a manufacturing company.

Biden further issued preemptive pardons to former White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley and members of the Jan. 6 Committee within the final hours of his presidency.