Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., stated on Sunday that he thinks President Donald Trump made “a mistake” by pardoning people who were found guilty of violent crimes or who had pled guilty to violent crimes during the Capitol incident on January 6, 2021.
“Pardoning the people who went into the Capitol and beat up a police officer violently I think was a mistake, because it seems to suggest that’s an okay thing to do,” Graham said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Graham compared former President Joe Biden’s choice to pardon a number of his family members during his final hours in office last week to Trump’s decision to pardon heinous offenders.
Biden pardoned half of his family members before leaving. Graham told “Meet the Press” presenter Kristen Welker, “I believe that if this keeps up, most Americans will look again at the president’s pardon power.”
He continued, “as to pardoning violent people who beat up cops, I think that’s a mistake.”
Trump fulfilled one of his most frequently cited campaign pledges on Monday, just hours after taking the oath of office for a second term, by using his presidential pardon authority to pardon some 1,500 of his supporters who had pled guilty or been found guilty for their activities on January 6.
Those convicted or pled guilty to violent offenses on a day when more than 140 police officers were hurt were among those he pardoned.
Graham, however, stressed that Trump was keeping a pledge he made during the campaign when he decided to pardon his supporters.
“He made this statement during the campaign, but many supporters of President Trump in law enforcement [were] upset about it. “He’s not playing tricks,” Graham remarked.
“I’ll be consistent here,” he continued. Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, I don’t appreciate the idea of releasing individuals from prison or forgiving those who beat up police officers and set cities on fire.