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Reporters Bombard KJP For Answers On Biden’s Pardoning Of Son Despite Months Of Promising It Would Not Happen

[Screenshot/White House press briefing]

Reporters bombarded White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a Friday briefing about the pardoning of Hunter Biden despite herself and President Joe Biden promising his son would not receive one from his father.

The president formally issued a “full and unconditional” pardon for his son on Sunday that relieved him of any conviction, potential crime or pending case from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024. Several reporters asked whether Biden or Jean-Pierre owe the press or the American people an apology, how the president can ever be trusted again and how this decision came about.

The Associated Press White House correspondent Zeke Miller asked the press secretary point-blank if she owes the American people an apology for repeatedly stating that Biden would not pardon his son. Jean-Pierre replied that Biden “wrestled” with the decision to pardon his son over the weekend after having held the initial position to not grant one.

“They were [told] by you in July that this would not happen, and it did,” Miller said. “So I’m asking for yourself, not the president’s name but for yourself, do you feel you are owed an apology by the president, do you owe an apology to the American people?”

“Zeke, I just laid out the president’s thinking,” Jean-Pierre said. “The president laid it out himself in his own words, he did. He laid out how he wrestled with this decision, he said in his statement ‘as a president, as a father, I talked about how difficult it was to make this decision.’ He thought about it this weekend, he did, he thought about it this weekend and he wrestled with it. So, you know, factors. [There are] some real factors he took into consideration and that’s why I keep saying folks should just take a look, read his statement. And, I know what I said, I know what the president said, that’s where we were at the time, that’s where the president was at the time. I am his spokesperson, this weekend, he thought about it, he wrestled with it and made this decision. That’s what I can tell the American people.”

Jean-Pierre then falsely cited a YouGov poll finding that 64% of Americans agree with the pardon in response to Miller asking about the president’s credibility. The poll found that 64% of Democrats agree with the pardon, while 50% of overall Americans said they disapproved of the act.

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Jean-Pierre denied that Biden would pardon on several occasions, including during two briefings held on July 26 and July 27, 2023. Biden assured ABC News anchor David Muir during a June 13 interview that he had ruled out pardoning Hunter.

NBC News White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell questioned whether Biden has any concerns regarding his credibility due to the sudden change in his decision. Jean-Pierre confirmed that “circumstances” led the president to change his mind, citing Democratic South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn’s encouragement to pardon Hunter and his concern over President-elect Donald Trump’s alleged plan of executing “retribution” on his political opponents.

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The press secretary got visibly irritated as CNN senior White House correspondent MJ Lee followed up on Miller’s question about how Americans can take Biden at his word.

“Zeke asked this question, I just didn’t hear an answer. The next time that the president says he will or won’t do something, why should the American people believe him?” Lee asked.

“I answered that question, I don’t have anything else to add,” Jean-Pierre replied, leading to some pushback by Lee. “I answered the question, I answered the question. Well, I can’t speak to you understanding the question or not or my answer or not on this, I have nothing else to say. I am not gonna re-litigate this, I did it on Monday for 30 minutes, I went back and forth, I said please read the president’s really comprehensive statement on this and I even said the last paragraph of that statement, he talks directly to the American people and that’s how I answered that question.”

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CBS News White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe asked if Biden has “expressed regret” or personally apologized to Jean-Pierre for putting her in a position where she had to make false statements about the pardoning.

“Look, I understand this question and I think the way you started off this question is basically how I feel, and I think all of us who work in this administration, I work for the president, I speak for the president, I comment on behalf of what he feels and thinks and that’s my job. That’s my job as the White House press secretary, the person who speaks on behalf of the president of the United States and that’s how I feel,” Jean-Pierre said.

The press secretary told O’Keefe that there is “no apology needed” from Biden, and argued that many legal experts believe Hunter was charged for crimes that hardly ever get prosecuted. O’Keefe suggested that Americans will struggle to trust Biden ever again due to his false assurances that there would be no pardon, leading the press secretary to say that the nation should still trust in him.

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Biden wrote in a Sunday statement that his son was “singled out” by his political opponents for being his son, arguing that almost no one is prosecuted for how they filled out a gun form or for being late to paying their taxes after paying them back “with interest and penalties.”

The president pardoned his son from facing any possible charges related to his overseas business dealings in Ukraine, China or Romania, the nine charges alleging that he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes in a three-year period. He has further been relieved from his conviction in June regarding the illegal purchase of a gun and writing false information on a purchase form.