In a recent interview with NBC News, GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis was taken aback when asked if he would consider pardoning Hunter Biden. The question was posed by NBC’s Dasha Burns during a discussion about DeSantis’s openness to potentially pardoning former President Trump. DeSantis had previously suggested that pardoning Trump could help “move the country forward,” drawing a parallel to former President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon.
Burns then shifted the conversation to President Biden, asking DeSantis if he would request GOP lawmakers to halt their investigation into Biden, to which DeSantis responded negatively. He argued that Biden has not been held accountable for various issues, particularly the financial gains of his family, which he believes have not been thoroughly investigated.
When Burns asked if DeSantis would pardon Hunter Biden in the spirit of healing the country, DeSantis expressed confusion and firmly rejected the idea, stating, “Why? No!” He emphasized that the situations involving Trump and Hunter Biden are not comparable, as Hunter Biden was not a leader of the opposition political party.
DeSantis further argued that if Hunter Biden had not been connected to the D.C. ruling class, he would have faced prosecution much earlier. He differentiated between the Ford-Nixon scenario and the current situation with Trump, suggesting that they are not equivalent in terms of healing the country.
The interview also touched on the topic of Hunter Biden’s criminal charges for tax and gun crimes. Burns posed similar questions to other GOP rivals, including Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom said they would pardon Trump. However, when asked about pardoning Hunter Biden, Haley responded, “Let’s wait and see what the charges are,” while Ramaswamy firmly said “no” to any convictions tied to foreign money received by Hunter Biden and potential bribery schemes involving his father.