Two of California’s most prominent Democrats sharply criticized President Biden’s controversial pardon of his son Hunter, with Sen.-elect Adam B. Schiff and Gov. Gavin Newsom both expressing disappointment Tuesday.
“With everything the president and his family have been through, I completely understand the instinct to protect Hunter. But I took the president at his word,” Newsom told Politico, referencing the fact that Biden had repeatedly and unequivocally vowed not to pardon his son in recent months before issuing the expansive clemency grant on Sunday. “So by definition, I’m disappointed and can’t support the decision.”
The break with the outgoing president was significant for a governor who acted as an emphatic surrogate for Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign before dropping his bid for reelection. Newsom vociferously defended Biden even as others raised questions about his age and abilities.
Schiff, who will be sworn in Monday as California’s next U.S. senator, said in an interview with KQED that he was “deeply disappointed” by the pardon.
Schiff told the Northern California radio station that he feared the pardon would set a “bad precedent” that “will undoubtedly be abused and probably will be abused in the very near future by the incoming president, who was already citing it in connection with his desire to pardon the Jan. 6 attackers, people who beat police officers and bear-sprayed them.”
Spokespeople for Schiff and Newsom declined to provide further comment to The Times.
Biden issued a “full and unconditional” pardon for his 54-year-old son Sunday in a sweeping grant of clemency that encompassed offenses that Hunter Biden “may have committed or taken part in” from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024. Hunter Biden was previously convicted by a jury of illegally purchasing a handgun in Delaware and pleaded guilty to tax charges in Los Angeles.
California Sen. Alex Padilla took a softer tone than Schiff and Newsom in a Monday night interview with Jen Psaki on MSNBC, saying he was surprised since Biden was “telling us for months and months and months that he wouldn’t pardon his son” and said he was “not sure I would have made the decision that he announced.”
The Californians were far from the only prominent Democrats to critique Biden’s choice: Dissenting voices included Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who wrote that he was “disappointed” that Biden “put his family ahead of the country,” and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who characterized the decision as one that “put personal interest ahead of duty.”