9 Dangerous Defenses of the Hunter Biden Pardon
Beware the temptation of fighting Trump by becoming Trump.
SIX MONTHS AGO, when Hunter Biden was on trial for lying about his drug use to get a gun, Joe Biden pledged not to pardon him. On Sunday, Biden reneged on that promise and pardoned his son. Many of the president’s supporters are defending his reversal, and their excuses reflect a dangerous development: They’re adopting the rationalizations and nihilism of the Trump movement.
I’m not saying there’s no difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump or between their supporters. The differences are enormous. But the corruption of the American right makes it more important, not less, to preserve integrity on the left and in the center. Half of our electorate has become so morally numb that it has re-elected a sociopathic authoritarian felon to the presidency. We mustn’t let the other half succumb to the same disease.
To illustrate the worrisome trend among anti-Trump Americans, let me take you through some of the responses I got when I criticized the pardon on social media.
1. Family comes first.
“We shouldn’t let family members be used by MAGA. Good for President Biden!” one supporter of the pardon wrote on Substack. On Threads, another asserted, “When you need to protect your family from really bad people the rules need to go out the window.”
It’s natural to sympathize with a father protecting his son. But putting family loyalty above the rule of law—and protecting the president’s son, not the sons of other people—is classic corruption. It’s also typical of authoritarian regimes. It’s the same selective immunity Trump would apply to his own sons.
2. It’s an absolute power, and it’s legal.
“Presidential pardon power was & is absolute,” one commenter observed on X. Another Biden supporter boasted: “The Pardon power is in the Constitution and it is absolute. Deal with it. This is a righteous pardon.”
Actually the pardon power is limited and constrained in various ways. Still, it’s an immense power, and it’s vested solely in the president. That’s why Trump got away with corrupt pardons in his first term and will get away with more in his second. But when you argue that legality is good enough—or when you find yourself embracing the idea that absolute power means actions can’t be questioned—that’s a sign that you’re losing your moral boundaries.
3. Everybody does it.
“Many presidents have abused that power,” wrote one commenter. “Remember [Marc] Rich when Clinton left office? Stop pretending it’s some great thing that’s above reproach.”
Correct. The pardon power has often been abused. But is that a good reason to join in the abuse?
4. Trump is worse.
“Nothing Biden did here comes remotely close to trumps pardoning of war criminals and people who would otherwise testify against him. Spare me the pearl clutching,” scoffed one user on Substack. Another pointed out that Trump is “a convicted felon with 91 criminal charges, who pardoned Jared Kushners dad etc. I don’t think us dems should be doing purity tests on Biden for pardoning his son.”
Yes, Trump is worse. He’s so bad, in fact, that if that’s the only standard you hold yourself to—be better than Trump—you can justify all kinds of corruption.
5. Scruples are a disadvantage.
Democrats “often shy away from wielding the full extent of their constitutional authority,” one supporter of the pardon lamented. “This self-imposed restraint creates an uneven playing field and allows Republicans to dominate the political narrative while Democrats remain tethered to rules the other side ignores.”
That’s true. But by this logic, anything short of Trumpian ruthlessness leaves the playing field uneven—and the only way to level it is to fully exploit power.
6. Don’t be outgunned.
“Biden shouldn’t be expected to bring a knife to a gun fight,” a defender of the president wrote on Threads. “He knows they [Republicans] won’t play by the rules when they are in charge.”
This is a more explicit appeal to match the other side’s tactics, weaponization, and disregard for rules. It’s hard to see where such an arms race ends.
7. Morality is dead.
“America elected a convicted felon in 2024 and I no longer care about ‘norms,” one commenter shrugged. “The voters have spoken and integrity is passé,” said another. A third asked: “Why should he [Biden] sacrifice a single thing more for ideals the populace no longer believe in?”
It’s true that half of the electorate failed to stand up for integrity in this election. But to conclude, on that basis, that integrity no longer matters is to ask the other half of the electorate—the half that stood firm—to join in the dereliction. It’s a rationalization for shedding your principles and doing what feels good, disguised as a wise observation about others.
8. Biden’s behavior won’t affect Trump’s.
“Trump will abuse the pardon power of the presidency no matter what Biden does,” said one user on X. “No Biden pardon will make Trump behave worse,” wrote another.
That’s true. But Trump’s incorrigible corruption—the fact that he’ll never do the right thing—makes him meaningless as a moral standard. If the only principles you follow are those you expect him to emulate, you’ll have no principles at all.
9. Trump is so dangerous that the normal rules don’t apply.
“Joe did what he had to do,” wrote a commenter on Substack, “especially since the fascists coming in would probably have him executed.” Another argued: “If monsters with no regard for the law, Constitution and ethical standards weren’t going to be in charge, then he wouldn’t have to do this.” A third warned that Biden’s opponents “are planning their pogroms and targeted persecutions,” and therefore “the Biden administration and Senate should use every tool and strategy . . . to put every possible blockade in the way.”
This idea—that extraordinary measures are justified because the other side is so evil—is what many of Trump’s allies seized on to rationalize the crimes of his first administration. Today, the argument has a stronger basis, because Trump has proved to be genuinely dangerous. But when your conclusion is that every tool is acceptable—or that you’re entitled to extreme measures, with no limits specified—it can become an excuse to indulge in corruption.
AMERICA IS IN DEEP TROUBLE. Donald Trump is an autocratic thug, and he’s about to retake power, this time with a fully compliant Congress and a Supreme Court committed to shielding him from legal accountability. Worse yet, he has the backing of a plurality of voters, even after he sent a mob to attack our Capitol and called for terminating the Constitution.
It’s understandable that many of us, recognizing this threat, might decide that the only way to meet it is to abandon the rules and norms Trump has already broken. But that’s also the quickest way to make the situation much worse. We still have half a country willing to stand up for the rule of law. Let’s not lose it.