Trump slams Biden for pardoning family members before leaving office

Washington, Jan 21 US President Donald Trump has criticised former President Joe Biden's pardons for family members, which he issued as his last act before leaving office on Monday.

President Trump hit out at Biden for an 11th-hour clemency announcement offering preemptive pardons to members of his family during remarks from the Capital One Arena on Monday.

"Did you know that Biden, while I was making my speech, pardoned his whole family?" Trump said.

"The brother, the whole deal, was pardoned. Can you imagine that, while I was making my speech? Did everybody hear my speech? Did you like my speech? Thank you."

Trump said that aides stopped him from making his inaugural address more "tough", urging him to avoid including remarks about Biden's decision to pardon family members or about planned pardons for January 6 defendants.

But moments later, he seemed to contradict himself, telling supporters he didn't find out about the pardons until after he finished his remarks.

"Can you believe it? He's pardoned — you know why he did it while I was speaking? Because that way I couldn't speak about it," Trump said.

"I was speaking, I didn't know he (Biden) did it. I finished my speech, and they said, 'Sir, he pardoned his whole family.' I said, 'Oh can I go back out there and talk about it?'"

"Somehow, that wouldn't be very elegant," he added.

"Our first lady would say, 'Please don't do that.' We have plenty of time to talk about it, and we will."

During an appearance to sign executive orders, President Trump said Biden's pardons were "unfortunate," but said he wouldn't discuss them further yet.

"We won't discuss it now. There's plenty of time to discuss it," the President said.

In the last hours of his presidency, Biden issued pardons for Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and members of the House January 6 investigative committee, as well as for James B. Biden (Biden's brother), Sara Jones Biden (Biden's sister-in-law), Valerie Biden Owens (Biden's sister), John T. Owens (Biden's brother-in-law), and Francis W. Biden (Biden's youngest brother).

"I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics," Biden wrote, but said that the pardons were needed because of the risk of "baseless and politically motivated investigations" that could "wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families".

Former President Biden also pardoned his son Hunter Biden in December of 2024, writing at the time that Hunter had been targeted because he was the President's son.

That decision drew criticism from lawmakers and from then-President-elect Trump, who called that pardon an "abuse and miscarriage of Justice" and questioned why President Biden hasn't pardoned any of the "hostages" who were imprisoned following the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.