Footage has resurfaced on social media of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre unequivocally denying the President would pardon his son Hunter.
In a clip, Jean-Pierre is asked whether the President would pardon or commute his son’s sentences.
“It’s still a ‘no.’ It will be a ‘no.’ It is a ‘no,’ and I don’t have anything else to add. Will he pardon his son? No.”
Response to the clip on social media was damning.
“A corrupt administration and shameful family,” Tweeted investigative journalist Andy Ngo.
“KJP has been a liar for the entire time she’s been the Biden spokesman,” added another user.
Jean-Pierre has been forced, on multiple occasions over the last year, to deny the President would let his son off the hook.
After Hunter was indicted on federal tax-evasion charges, Jean-Pierre gave a long-winded answer about the President’s love for his son.
“Nothing has changed. That is still the case,” Jean-Pierre said when asked directly whether Biden would pardon Hunter.
“I mean, the president has said this before, and he will continue to say, which is that he loves his son and supports him as he continues to rebuild his life. And I’m going to be really careful to not comment on this and refer to Department of Justice or my colleagues at the White House counsel. But that’s what I’m going to—I’m not going to go beyond telling you all what the president has said over and over again. He’s proud of his son, and he is building his life back,” she added.
The questioning, and the denials, continued after Biden withdrew from the presidential race.
Biden himself was also forced on at least one occasion to issue a denial himself.
The President’s pardon for his son Hunter comes ahead of his 12 December sentencing on federal gun charges, and his 16 December sentencing in a separate criminal case for tax evasion.
In a statement, the President criticized his son’s “unfair” and “selective” prosecution.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” he said.