Donald Trump says he’ll pardon Jan. 6 rioters on day one: ‘Acting very quickly’

President-elect Donald Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday that he wanted to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters on the first day of his administration and said people on the Jan. 6 committee in Congress belonged in jail. 

“I’m going to look at everything. We’ll look at individual cases,” Trump told Welker. “But I’m going to be acting very quickly.”

Trump said while he was campaigning that he planned to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters. Welker followed up and asked how quickly he planned to act on it. 

“First day, I’m looking first day. These people have been there — how long is it? Three, four years,” Trump said. “They’ve been in there for years. And they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”

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Welker also asked about President Biden considering issuing preemptive pardons to some of Trump’s opponents, such as Liz Cheney or Sen.-elect Adam Schiff. White House counsel Ed Siskel is arranging discussions about the potential pardons with several other senior Biden aides, including chief of staff Jeff Zients, Politico reported, citing senior Democrats familiar with the talks.

“For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail,” Trump told Welker. 

Welker asked if he would direct his FBI director to send anyone on the Jan.6 committee, such as former Sen. Liz Cheney, to jail.

“No, not at all. I think that they’ll have to look at that, but I’m not going to — I’m going to focus on drill, baby, drill,” Trump responded. 

President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena on August 23, 2024, in Glendale, Arizona.  (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

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The New York Times editorial board warned that President Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, would provide cover for Trump to pardon the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters. 

“It is easy to imagine the ‘they did it too’ defenses being offered should Mr. Trump pardon the perpetrators of the violent Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as he has suggested he will. Hunter Biden’s crimes are not nearly equivalent to the destruction caused by the rioters, but his father’s action muddles the defenses against future abuses.”

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Biden announced last week that he pardoned his son from any crimes against the U.S. that he “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024.

In his statement, Biden also accused the Department of Justice of targeting his son “unfairly.” He wrote, “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.