Outgoing United States President Joe Biden announced a presidential pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, on a late evening last Sunday, thereby nullifying the potential of jail time associated with federal crimes revolving around weapon ownership and tax transgressions. In striking contrast with Mr. Biden’s earlier statement, the action diverted from his assurance that he would neither absolve his son nor reduce the period of his sentence upon conviction in the legal proceedings of Delaware and California.
Prior to this stunning decision, in the month of May, President Biden had decisively eschewed the option of granting any clemency to his son or endorsing any possibilities of sentence commuting in Hunter Biden’s case. In the heat of Hunter’s legal ordeal concerning a charge related to firearms in the state of Delaware, the president emphasized his commitment to respecting the jury’s decision and announced steadfastly that he had no intentions of absolving his son.
Provoked by the sudden turn of events, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, came forward to express his criticism. He addressed the media on the 2nd of December, 2024, expressing his discontent at President Biden’s discretion to pardon his son, illustrating the decision as an overt evidence of selective privilege under the law.
In Musk’s words, ‘By choosing to pardon his son Hunter, not just for one solitary offence but for all actual or potential misdemeanors he could have orchestrated over an interlude of eleven years, Joe Biden has exemplified that some individuals, indeed, enjoy impunity under law.’ Musk’s words painted a picture of the pardon as a blatant indulgence in nepotism while questioning the impartiality of law enforcement under Biden’s administration.
In the official announcement of the pardon, President Biden asserted, ‘Today, I approved and signed a pardon for my son, Hunter.’ He contended that the legal prosecution was fuelled by political antagonism and that it was a ‘gross aberration of justice.’
In his attempt to elucidate his sturdy stand, Biden stated, ‘The accusations laid out against Hunter have their origin in the political manoeuvres of several adversaries in the Congress, who triggered them to facilitate my opposition and to stymie my electoral ambitions.’ He further supplemented his view by putting forth, ‘Any rational individual, upon reviewing the facts in Hunter’s cases, would arrive at nothing but the conclusion that the only reason for Hunter being singled out was his relation to me.’
Adding a closing statement that amalgamated an appeal to the American public with his personal motivations, he expressed, ‘I wish Americans will comprehend the reasons that led a father, and coincidentally, the President to make such a decision.’ The President’s clarion call for understanding and empathy merged his dual roles – a father’s love and a president’s duty to uphold justice.