Commuting George Santos’ Prison Sentence Not A Good Look
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ABC News’ Jonathan Karl interviewed House Speaker Mike Johnson on ABC’s This Week, and it was a doozy. Karl asked about Trump commuting George Santos’s prison time. What wasn’t asked in the interview was why it’s OK that Trump’s actions now mean that Santos does not have to pay back $400,000 from the people and institutions he defrauded.
“The president has the right under the Constitution for pardon and commutation, of course,” Johnson said. “We believe in redemption. This is a personal belief of mine.”
“And I hope Mr. Santos makes the most of his second chance,” he continued.
“But how about the fact that the president, in issuing the pardon, or it’s a clemency, I’m sorry, the clemency, he said at least Santos had the courage, conviction, and intelligence to always vote Republican,” Karl shot back. “I looked through this. There have now, I think we have a list of them, 10 former Republican members of Congress who the president has either pardoned or issued clemency for, 10.”
“Okay, you want to talk about what Joe Biden did with that power?” Johnson asked.
“No, I want to talk about what..” Karl said.
“He pardoned his own family,” Johnson said without explaining why that had to be done. “The only thing he signed, by the way, with his own pen, everything else is an auto pen.”
“At least President Trump is fully transparent,” Johnson falsely said. “He goes out and explains his rationale to the American people.”
“Is it okay for him to say that essentially I’m pardoning somebody because they always had the courage?” Karl asked.
“That’s not the reason he pardoned,” Johnson insisted.
“Conviction and intelligence to always vote Republican,” Karl said to finish his sentence.
“That’s one snippet of what he said among many things about George Santos,” Mike said.
“But should that be a factor in pardoning somebody, that they voted Republican?” Karl asked again.
“I don’t think it was,” Trump’s little Johnson insisted. “I just think he’s talking about this individual and his past, and at least he’s open and transparent about it. Joe Biden never told us anything, and frankly, we’re not even sure he knew who he was pardoning on any of those things.”
Oh, sure, bring up Biden, who gifted Trump with a healthy economy, and didn’t spend his time trashing America with shitposts on Truth Social. If any other president were blowing up boats, stifling the economy, and falling asleep at various times with bruised hands and cankles, we’d call it a day and slap him with the 25th Amendment.
By the way, is Johnson suggesting that Trump didn’t use an autopen when he pardoned 1,500 people for their roles in the January 6th attack on the Capitol?