WASHINGTON — Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis blasted President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter — saying Sunday that Biden “put his family ahead of the country” and that the move would “tarnish his reputation.”
The stinging rebuke from the possible 2028 presidential contender came as Biden, 82, prepared to fly to Angola for an official visit — limiting his exposure to questions about the pardon.
“While as a father I certainly understand President @JoeBiden’s natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” Polis, 49, tweeted.
“This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation. When you become President, your role is Pater familias of the nation.”
Polis added: “Hunter brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”
The first son, 54, was convicted in June of a trio of gun felonies and pleaded guilty in September to $1.4 million in tax fraud on income from Chinese and Ukrainian relationships in which he repeatedly involved his father.
Polis, who founded ProFlowers before serving as a congressman from 2009 to 2019 and as governor since 2019, was quickly joined in his condemnation by Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.).
Stanton contradicted Biden’s claim in his pardon statement that his son had been the victim of “selective prosecution.”
“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong,” Stanton tweeted.
“This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”
Both Biden and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted this year that the first son would not receive a pardon — with Biden arguing that it was important to respect the legal system.
Biden claimed he wouldn’t pardon his son as he argued that former President Donald Trump got a fair trial and should accept his May conviction on business-document charges in Manhattan, which Trump claimed were politically motivated to derail his ultimately successful political comeback in the Nov. 5 election.
“No one is above the law,” Biden wrote on X one day after Trump’s conviction.
“For eight years, Democrats, in their institutionalist defense of democracy, have claimed to oppose special favors for the Dear Leader’s family and retinue. This pardon is a bad move and rank hypocrisy,” tweeted Johns Hopkins political science professor Daniel Schlozman.