Trump Finds Crazy Excuse for Pardoning Violent Rioters
President Donald Trump on Tuesday found a way to defend pardoning thousands of convicted Jan. 6 rioters–some of whom violently attacked police officers–by arguing that they had already spent enough time behind bars.
Trump took questions from reporters at the White House during a press conference, beginning with NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Peter Alexander, who first asked, “You would agree that it’s never acceptable to assault a police officer?“
That prompt elicited a ”sure" from Trump.
Alexander then got specific. “Among those you pardoned was D.J. Rodriguez. He drove a stun gun into the neck of an officer who was abducted by the mob that day. He later confessed on video to the FBI and pleaded guilty for his crimes.”
Rodriguez, who was arrested in March 2021, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in June 2023.
“Why does he deserve a pardon?” Alexander asked.
Initially, Trump had no answer.
“Well, I don’t know,” he said. “Was it a pardon? Because we are looking at commutations and we’re looking at pardons.”
Alexander affirmed that it was a pardon.
“Okay, well we’ll take a look at everything,” Trump replied, even though the pardon of Rodriguez cannot be rescinded.
Trump then went off-topic, falsely claiming that murderers in some cities “aren’t charged.”
“But I can say this: Murderers today are not even charged. You have murderers that aren’t charged, all over. You take a look at what’s gone on in Philadelphia. You take a look at what’s gone off in L.A., where people murder people and they don’t get charged,” he said.
Shifting back to those convicted for Jan. 6-related crimes like Rodriguez, Trump finally seemed to have found his argument.
“These people have already served years in prison, and they have served them viciously. It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible. It’s inhumane. It’s been a terrible, terrible thing,” he said.
After another digression about Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis, Trump reiterated, “So, these people have already served a long period of time, and I made a decision to give a pardon.”
Officer Michael Fanone, who was Tasered by Rodriguez, said upon hearing about the thousands of pardons: “I have been betrayed by my country.”
