Biden says he warned Trump not to ‘settle scores’ with political adversaries
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President is considering whether to grant pre-emptive presidential pardons to Liz Cheney and Anthony Fauci. Joe Biden said he told Donald Trump not to follow through on his campaign vows to pursue retribution against his political adversaries once he returns to the White House.
Talking to USA Today, Biden said he proffered the advice when he hosted Trump at the White House in November after his election victory over Kamala Harris. The president-elect did not respond directly but did not reject the suggestion, Biden said. “I was very straightforward with Trump when he got elected,” Biden told USA Today in the hour-long interview, one of the few one-on-one interviews he has given in his four-year term. “I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores.”.
Asked if Trump answered, Biden acknowledged that he did not, but added: “But he didn’t say, ‘No, I’m going to...’ You know. He didn’t reinforce it. He just basically listened.”. Biden’s comments were made in the context of a question about whether to grant pre-emptive presidential pardons to figures such as Liz Cheney, the former number three Republican in the House of Representatives, and Anthony Fauci, the former US public health official who spearheaded the country’s response to Covid-19.
