Could Donald Trump’s legal buck stop with Joe Biden?
Clay Travis seems to think so, as the conservative syndicated radio host says “there’s a chance” that Biden, if reelected in 2024, could end the era of political prosecution with a full pardon for the former president.
“If [Trump] were to lose the election, I’m curious whether the prosecutions would continue, honestly,” the “Clay & Buck” co-host and OutKick founder said Tuesday on the “Brian Kilmeade show.” “Because if Biden won, there’s a chance – if Biden’s running, or another Democrat – I think there’s a chance they would actually go ahead and pardon Trump.”
Kilmeade noted that Trump, if he wins, will surely issue an immediate self-pardon.
“Well if Trump wins, he’s definitely gonna pardon himself, but obviously – even if the Democrats win … even if he knows he’s never going to run against Trump again, they might do the pardon.”
And there is some precedent for that: Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon upon his 1974 resignation, but Ford was a same-party vice president who had been handpicked by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew. Ford’s administration never really recovered from the backlash around that pardon – which would make a bipartisan Biden pardon seem even less likely.
And Kilmeade suggested there are other reasons to doubt Biden would make that move.
“I don’t think Joe Biden’s a nice guy,” Kilmeade said. “I don’t think he’ll have any compassion for him. I think he’s a mean guy who continues to lie to your face. And he hates Trump more than life itself! He would revel in putting the 78-year-old behind bars.”
Travis also pointed to Iowa as a possible weak spot for Trump, who will be actively defending criminal charges by the time the caucuses come around.
“I think he’s going to have somebody who rises up, because he’s not spending that much time in Iowa – he’s taking shots at Kim Reynolds, thegovernor of Iowa, and I think Iowa is a more conservative caucus electorate,” Travis said. “It would be interesting if someone were able to grab that mantle.”
Watch the entire exchange from the “Brian Kilmeade Show” in the video above.
