WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested that his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, should have spared himself as well when he issued sweeping, blanket pardons for his family members, those on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other GOP political rivals. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Donald Trump suggested that his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, should have spared himself as well when he issued sweeping, blanket pardons for his family members, those on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other GOP political rivals
  • In his first sit-down Oval Office interview since taking back the reins of the White House, conducted on Wednesday by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump reiterated his criticism of Biden’s move in the eleventh hour of his time in office on Monday and said it was “sad” his predecessor left himself off the list
  • The president, however, would not say whether Congress should investigate Biden and those he pardoned, saying he would let lawmakers decide. The president, however, would not say whether Congress should investigate Biden and those he pardoned, saying he would let lawmakers decide

In his first sit-down Oval Office interview since taking back the reins of the White House, conducted Wednesday by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump reiterated his criticism of Biden’s move in the 11th hour of his time in office Monday and said it was “sad” his predecessor left himself off the list. 

“This guy went around giving everybody pardons, and, you know, the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn't give himself a pardon,” Trump told Hannity. 

The president went on to suggest that the reason those Biden pardoned became people of interest for Republicans “all had to do with him,” referring to the former president. 

In statements, Biden said the reason for the controversial sweeping pardons was to protect those being spared from potential “revenge” from the Trump administration. Last month, he similarly shocked the nation when he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, despite his repeated assertions he would do no such thing. 

Before leaving office earlier this month, Biden was asked by reporters whether he was considering giving himself a preemptive pardon. 

“For myself?" Biden responded. "What would I pardon myself for? 

“No, I have no contemplation of pardoning myself for anything,” the then-president continued. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

In the interview, Trump told Hannity that he was “given the option” to spare himself in his first term in the White House but similarly turned the idea down. 

“I said, ‘I’m not going to pardon anybody. We didn’t do anything wrong,’” Trump said of his thinking at the time. 

In his four years out of office, Trump faced indictments in New York, Washington, Florida and Georgia and became the first president to be convicted of felony crimes. But the weight of his legal battles have largely subsided as he has taken office again. The two federal cases against him in Florida and Washington have been dismissed entirely. 

The president said that it is “hard to say” that those on the other side shouldn’t have to face the same grueling legal situation. 

“I went through four years of hell by this scum that we had to deal with. I went through four years of hell,” Trump told Hannity. “I spent millions of dollars in legal fees, and I won. But I did it the hard way. And it’s really hard to say that they shouldn’t have to go through it all.”

The president, however, would not say whether Congress should investigate Biden and those he pardoned, saying he would let lawmakers decide. 

In an interview with NBC News last month, Trump similarly suggested he wasn’t going to direct the FBI or Justice Department to investigate or pursue rivals, insisting it was at the discretion of those in charge of those departments but saying they would have an “obligation” if somebody was “dishonest or crooked or a corrupt politician.”