Former Obama aide questions Biden’s masculinity after last-second family pardons
Former Obama aide David Axelrod lashed out at former President Biden on Tuesday for issuing preemptive pardons for members of his family, arguing that he should “man up” and face accountability.
“That was egregious, 10 minutes before the inauguration they announced that he’s pardoned members of his family. I mean, man up! You know what I mean? Man up, and if you’re gonna do it, do it, but don’t do it literally as you have one foot out the door so you don’t have to explain it or be accountable for it, and what they did was they gave Trump a gift because it fuzzied up the story, the J6 story for him, and you heard him last night,” Axelrod said during his podcast, “Hacks on Tap,” as reported by Mediaite.
Minutes before President Trump was sworn in, Biden’s White House announced that the outgoing president would be preemptively pardoning several members of his family.
“Could you end a presidency as badly as he has? I mean, Trump did,” Axelrod added.
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David Axelrod called out former President Biden again during his podcast, “Hacks On Tap,” about his last second pardons. (Left: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Right: (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images))
Axelrod’s co-host, Mike Murphy, agreed with Axelrod on the timing and the politics of it, and said “it showed a lack of balls.” However, Murphy said some of the pardons might have been justified, citing attacks by Trump.
The former Obama adviser agreed, echoing his earlier point.
“Just man the hell up and say I’m doing it because this guy [Trump] threatened my family, threatened these people who are going their jobs, I mean, man up!” Axelrod added.
Biden’s pardon applies to James Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John Owens and Francis Biden, the Biden White House announced Monday. The president argued that his family could be subject to “politically motivated investigations.”
The pardons come after House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer requested that Trump’s Justice Department investigate and prosecute James Biden for allegedly making false statements to Congress.
Axelrod said the way the Biden White House did this made it look “particularly sleazy.”
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President Joe Biden walks down the steps of Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. B (Susan Walsh/AP)
“It was mind-boggling to me that they did it the way they did it,” Axelrod said.
President Trump reacted to the move, saying it made Biden look guilty.
“Now, maybe every president that leaves office, they’re gonna pardon every person they ever met,” he said. “I guess now I have precedent to do it. I wouldn’t want to do that, no. I think it makes you look very guilty. I think it makes Biden look very bad, very weak, and very guilty.”
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The former president said in 2020 that he would not issue preemptive pardons in 2020, attempting to contrast himself against Trump.
Axelrod said on Monday that the Biden pardons looked “tawdry.”
