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How Democrats and Republicans Look at Hunter Biden’s Pardon and One for J6ers

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Despite apparent consternation from a small number of Democrats—including Governor Jared Polis and U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, both of Colorado, and Senator Gary Peters of Michigan—a strong majority of Democratic voters support President Joe Biden’s decision to issue a complete, blanket pardon for Hunter Biden, his son, whom incoming Trump nominees are expected to continue to target. Multiple legal experts, including former federal prosecutors, have stated they would not have brought charges against Hunter Biden. The President and the White House have indicated the pardon was in response to Trump’s nominations.

A YouGov poll conducted Monday of over 3500 adults found 64% of Democrats approve of President Biden pardoning his son, while 21% disapprove. Nearly eight in ten Republicans (79%) disapprove. Overall, 34% of the country approves, and 50% does not. Adults 45 and older were the largest groups to disapprove.

“Biden didn’t just pardon his son, but he did so after repeatedly saying he wouldn’t, and he gave Hunter Biden an extraordinarily broad pardon, historically speaking,” reported The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake. “These numbers suggest it’s a mark against the outgoing president, but not exactly a scandal.”

RELATED: ‘Two Things Could Be True’: White House Reveals Why Hunter Pardon Might Not Have Happened

Blake also reported that previous polls showed Democrats had been opposed to the President pardoning his son.

He noted that the numbers suggest “the pardon might not be as big a stain on Biden’s legacy as it seemed it could be.” (Other news outlets, including Politico, have suggested the pardon has or will harm Biden’s legacy.)

The Post also reports the “reversal reinforces how partisanship can rein in such matters — how ideas that are highly unpopular in the abstract can win significant support when your side actually does it.”

Others have also spoken out against President Biden pardoning Hunter Biden.

Outgoing U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (who left the Democratic Party officially this year and declared independent status) told CNN the pardon makes President Biden’s legacy “more difficult,” and said Biden should have also pardoned Donald Trump to make it “more balanced.” Donald Trump had been facing close to 100 felony charges across multiple state and federal jurisdictions and courts on a wide variety of alleged criminal acts, including under the Espionage Act. Presidents cannot pardon state offenses.

RELATED: Why the Hunter Biden Pardon Is ‘Justified’ According to Legal Experts

Meanwhile, The Post also reports any possible pardons for those involved in the January 6 insurrection or other actions at the Capitol are strongly opposed—even by many Republicans.

“Polls show this idea has been very unpopular, and even many Republicans aren’t sold. A CNN poll in January showed 69 percent of American adults and even 46 percent of Republican-leaning Americans opposed the idea of pardoning most Jan. 6 convicts. And a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll a year ago showed just 26 percent of Americans and 42 percent of Republicans said punishments for Jan. 6 convicts were ‘too harsh.'”

However, Trump supporters’ perceptions could still change.

“Republicans have quite conveniently adjusted their views related to Trump and crime — and even the Capitol insurrection — plenty before, in Trump’s direction. And it could surely happen again.”

READ MORE: SCOTUS Ethics Code Debate Split Liberal and Conservative Justices Amid ‘Legitimacy Crisis’

 

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‘Code Red’: Newsom Tells Europe They’ve Been Played by ‘T-Rex’ Trump

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California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom issued what he described as a “code red” warning over President Donald Trump, citing what he characterized as a “wrecking ball” approach to the global order.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Governor Newsom told reporters that Europeans have been “played,” and that Trump has been “playing folks for fools.”

Calling the entire situation “embarrassing,” Newsom rejected the idea that what is happening between Trump and world leaders is diplomacy.

“This is diplomacy with Donald Trump? He’s a T-rex,” Newsom said, describing the president as a vicious dinosaur. “You mate with him, or he devours you. One of the other.”

READ MORE: ‘25th Amendment Territory’: Critics Warn Trump Impeachment Is ‘Not Enough’

Newsom warned that Europe is still playing by the old set of rules, while arguing that in actuality, “It’s the law of the jungle, it’s the rule of Don. And I hope it’s dawning on the world what we’re up against. I mean, this is serious. This guy is — he’s not mad. He is very intentional. But he’s unmoored. And he’s unhinged.”

Asked what Trump’s goal is, Newsom replied, “The goal is whatever he wants it to be. The goal is the world in his image. He’s a narcissist.”

Newsom then chastised European leaders, asking why they don’t do “what they’re saying in private?”

“Why don’t they just simply do what they know is right? Everybody’s talking behind his back. They laughing, and meanwhile they’re sucking up to him. It’s embarrassing.”

“This is not diplomacy,” the governor charged. “This is stupidity.”

READ MORE: Europe Divorcing America Now Seen as ‘Inevitable’: Report

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‘Is Canada Next?’ Ex-Trump Official Says Greenland Threat Worse Than Imagined

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A former top Trump official is warning that President Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland are worse than could be imagined, and wonders if he will stop there or target another close U.S. ally, like Canada, next.

John Bolton, who served as Trump’s National Security Adviser during the first Trump administration, told NewsNation that the “damage that Donald Trump is doing to America’s reputation, to the trust and good faith and reliance, our European allies and friends around the world have on us is just impossible to state.”

He called it “extraordinary” to “threaten the invasion of a NATO ally, to seize by force a territory from a democracy.”

“The impact in Europe,” he said, “you cannot calculate how bad this is for us.”

READ MORE: ‘Dictators’ Tea Party’: Trump’s Board of Peace Ridiculed as New Details Revealed

Trump has ramped up his threats to acquire Greenland, and has refused to commit to not using military force to take control of the semi-autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Bolton added, “if you want to rip up the NATO alliance, if you want to convince every other American ally around the world — Japan, South Korea, Australia — that we can’t be trusted, go ahead and use military force against Denmark in Greenland.”

“Go ahead and threaten your best friends and allies with retaliatory tariffs, because they just won’t give in,” he continued. “This is so counterproductive for the United States that it’s gonna take years to repair the damage that Donald Trump is doing, and none of it will do anything for the security of Greenland or the NATO alliance.”

“Well,” he added, “consider what it means for the United States to invade an ally like Denmark. Is Canada next? Shall we invade Great Britain? How about Spain?”

Bolton asked, “what is it that gives Trump the idea that the only way to deal with one of the friendliest countries in the world toward America, for 250 years, is to threaten military force?”

READ MORE: ‘25th Amendment Territory’: Critics Warn Trump Impeachment Is ‘Not Enough’

 

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‘Dictators’ Tea Party’: Trump’s Board of Peace Ridiculed as New Details Revealed

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The rollout for President Donald Trump’s new Board of Peace, which has drawn controversy and is facing resistance, does not appear to be going smoothly. The American president wants national leaders who join to donate at least $1 billion within the first year to become a permanent member. According to reports, Trump would be chairman for life, the organization could be filled with authoritarian leaders, and it is being seen as a possible rival to the United Nations.

Already, French President Emmanuel Macron, who appears to be leading the charge against Trump in Europe, reportedly has declined to join.

“The body was originally conceived as part of the U.S. president’s push to create a new governance framework for the shattered Palestinian enclave in the wake of Israel’s devastating two-year offensive against Hamas,” The Financial Times reported.

“The Board of Peace has had a rough landing,” reported Bloomberg News’ UK political editor Alex Wickham, noting that “it’s been criticized by Israel, questioned by Europe and has Russia’s friends celebrating.”

READ MORE: ‘25th Amendment Territory’: Critics Warn Trump Impeachment Is ‘Not Enough’

“World leaders were blindsided and bewildered by Trump’s demand they pay $1 billion for permanent membership, sources say,” Wickham noted. “European allies are working to modify the terms and coordinate a response, sources say. They are trying to persuade Arab leaders to help lobby Trump for changes.”

As chairman, Trump would have the ability to add or remove member nations, veto the board’s decisions and cast tie-breaking votes, and create or dissolve committees.

Critics are blasting Trump’s proposed Board of Peace.

Daily Mail UK columnist Andrew Neil said it will probably be Trump’s “most radical step yet to replace the post-WW2 global order. It will also be quite the dictators’ tea party. Putin, Lukashenko (Belarus tyrant) and the dictator of Kazakhstan have all been asked to join!!”

Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov remarked, “The board of peace stars dictators apparently.”

The Wall Street Journal’s chief foreign-affairs correspondent, Yaroslav Trofimov, observed, “Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ looks very much like a plan to replace the UN Security Council with an imperial court of vassals in which he is chairman for life, even after leaving the White House, with veto over every decision and the sole right to designate a successor. And a $1 billion fee for aspiring permanent members.”

Former chief White House ethics attorney Richard Painter wrote, “Almost 75,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in this war, and now we are auctioning off seats on a Gaza ‘Board of Peace’. For a Middle East peace policy, this is pathetic.”

READ MORE: Europe Divorcing America Now Seen as ‘Inevitable’: Report

 

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