Axelrod says Hunter Biden pardon ‘handled poorly’

by Juliann Ventura - 12/03/24 7:51 AM ET

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PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PARDON OF HIS SON HUNTER SENT OUT SHOCKWAVES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BECAUSE HE HAD REPEATEDLY PROMISED *NOT TO DO IT - LIKE AT THIS PRESS CONFERENCE IN JUNE. < President Biden "I said that I abide by the jury decision. I will do that, and I will not pardon him." > [Duration:0:05] THE PARDON GRANTS HUNTER CLEMENCY FOR HIS CONVICTION ON FELONY GUN CHARGES - AND FOR HIS GUILTY PLEA ON TAX CHARGES. HE WAS SET TO BE SENTENCED IN BOTH CASES LATER THIS MONTH. BUT WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN PIERRE SAYS PRESIDENT BIDEN DECIDED THIS WEEKEND THAT HE WOULD ISSUE THE PARDON. < Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary "He wrestled with it. He thought about it." > [Duration:0:03] IN HIS STATEMENT PRESIDENT BIDEN SAYS HE MADE THE DECISION BECAUSE HE BELIEVES HUNTER WAS TREATED UNFAIRLY FOR POLITICAL REASONS. < Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary "they targeted him because his last name was Biden." > [Duration:0:04] REPUBLICANS IMMEDIATELY SLAMMED THE PARDON - HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON SAID IN A POST "Trust in our justice system has been almost irreparably damaged by the Bidens and their use and abuse of it." AND DEMOCRATS ARE CRITICIZING THE DECISION TOO - SENATOR MICHAEL BENNETT WROTE ON X "President Biden's decision put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans' faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all." < Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary "he believes in the justice system but he also believes the war politics infected the process and led to a miscarriage of justice." > [Duration:0:09] < HANNAH TAG THE PARDON NOT ONLY COVER'S HUNTER'S GUN AND TAX CRIMES, BUT ALSO ANY FEDERAL OFFENSES HE'S COMMITTED OR ACCUSED OF OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS. IN WASHINGTON, I'M HANNAH BRANDT. > < SUGGESTED QUESTION HOW IS THE TRUMP TEAM REACTING TO THE PARDON? > < ANSWER THEY'RE FUNDRAISING OFF OF IT - CALLING THEM THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY ON THE WINRED PLATFORM AND ACCUSING THEM OF SWEEPING CORRUPTION UNDER THE RUG. BUT MANY PEOPLE ARE POINTING OUT THAT DURING HIS LAST TERM PRESIDENT TRUMP PARDONED CHARLES KUSHNER, THE FATHER OF HIS SON IN LAW, AND SEVERAL OTHER PERSONAL ALLIES. >" station="" title="" feed="" html_embed="true" no_pr="false" disable_muted_autoplay="false" expect_preroll="true" json_feed="" class="" /]

Democratic strategist David Axelrod was critical of the way President Biden handled the pardoning of his son, Hunter Biden, saying it was done “poorly.”

“It was just handled poorly, on top of everything,” Axelrod told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview Monday.

His comments came less than a day after Biden announced Sunday that he would pardon his son’s three felony charges — including unlawful purchase and possession of a gun in 2018. The decision has rattled political figures on both sides of the aisle and left many Republicans particularly furious, as the president has consistently vowed he would stay out of his son’s legal matters.

Axelrod suggested Biden’s decision to pardon his son was “defensive,” in preparation for President-elect Trump’s return to the White House.

“I think part of it was defensive, worried about what they may do after he leaves office,” Axelrod said.

At the same time, the strategist was sympathetic to Biden’s decision.

“Everybody in America knows how much loss the Bidens have suffered. I think that factors in here — he lost two children. He didn‘t want to lose one more. So I have sympathy for him,” Axelrod said.

He was referencing, Naomi Biden, Biden’s daughter who was killed as a baby in a car crash that also killed his first wife, Neilia Biden, in 1972. His oldest son, Beau Biden, died in 2015 from brain cancer believed to be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals during his service in the Iraq War.

Axelrod questioned how the public would view the act, though, referencing a specific part of Biden’s statement, where he suggested that he made the decision not only as a president, but as father.

“He said, ‘I hope the American people will understand that my act as a father and a president.’ I think people will understand his act as a father, but not as a president,” Axelrod said.

Hunter Biden, 54, was set to face sentencing in his federal gun case Dec. 12 and in his tax case four days later.

His attorneys filed a notice of pardon in both of his cases Sunday night, asking the judge to dismiss the indictment with prejudice. Special counsel David Weiss, however, rejected suggestions that he selectively prosecuted the younger Biden in court filings in which he also objected to dismissing charges.

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