N.J. Senator-elect Andy Kim says Hunter Biden’s pardon feeds assumption that ‘well-connected play by a different set of rules’
Andy Kim, who heads to the U.S. Senate in January, said he was “disappointed” by President Joe Biden’s decision.
U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D., N.J.) is disappointed that President Joe Biden decided to pardon his son Hunter Biden, the soon-to-be senator said Monday, one day after Biden’s pardon became public.
Biden had repeatedly said he would not pardon his son, who faced a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions. But as he reversed course Sunday night, Biden argued that the charges against his son were politically motivated.
Kim said he believes that Biden’s pardon “only feeds into this harmful assumption that the well-off and well-connected play by a different set of rules.” Kim, who is headed to the U.S. Senate in January, has made a name for himself working outside of the Democratic machine.
“I hear from so many people right now in New Jersey and elsewhere that politics is just an insiders’ game, benefiting the few over the American people’s everyday needs,” Kim continued. “ … While as a dad I can sympathize with President Biden’s family, as a citizen, I am disappointed in his decision.”
Some Democrats in the Pennsylvania congressional delegation had similar reactions to Kim later in the day.
U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat whose district includes Chester County and parts of Berks County, also said she is disappointed in Biden’s choice to pardon his son. She said she understands “the instinct to protect one’s family” and is concerned that President-elect Donald Trump “will use his administration’s powers to punish his personal and political enemies.”
The president’s blanket pardon of his son goes back to 2014, which appears to be intended to block potential new prosecutions by the incoming administration’s Justice Department.
“I still believe that no one should be above the law and will continue to use my voice to call out this and other examples of unwarranted immunity from our justice system,” Houlahan added.
U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democrat who represents Pittsburgh suburbs, also said he disagrees with Biden’s decision.
“People distrust our government when the rich and powerful get special treatment,” he said.
Others used the pardon as a window into larger discussions about clemency.
U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, a Democrat who represents Philadelphia, said he believes the pardon of Hunter Biden is “appropriate.”
“I hope it paves the way for pardons for other appropriate nonviolent federal offenders as well, including lower-level drug offenders,” Evans added.
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a progressive Democrat who represents Pittsburgh, also said she hopes Biden uses his power to pardon those outside of his family. Lee posted on X that while she believes it is true that the president’s son “faced harsh sentencing (and) unfair treatment … so do thousands of others, disproportionately Black folks.”
Lee shared an article published by The Appeal about an effort she’s part of along with 60 lawmakers calling for Biden to grant clemency to who she described as “the elderly, the chronically ill, those on death row, (and) others facing injustice.”
Republicans fiercely criticized the pardon, including U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, who represents Harrisburg, and U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, who represents the southwestern corner of the state.
Perry said that the “Radical Left corruption knows no bounds,” while Reschenthaler said that Biden’s “crime family’s time in public office ends in 50 days — and it can’t come soon enough.”
Other members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation were quiet on the issue on Monday. Democratic Sens John Fetterman and Bob Casey, as well as Republican Sen.-elect Dave McCormick, did not respond to requests for comment.