Trump suggests it was a mistake for Biden not to pardon himself – US politics live
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US president says his predecessor gave ‘everybody pardons’ but says it is a ‘sad thing’ he didn’t give himself one.
Donald Trump has described attacks on police officers at the US Capitol on January 6 2021 as “very minor incidents” as he sought to defend his decision to pardon the insurrectionists.
The US president hinted that those who put him through “four years of hell” via criminal prosecutions should themselves be investigated, adding ominously that his predecessor, Joe Biden, made a mistake by not pardoning himself.
Most of the people were absolutely innocent. OK. But forgetting all about that, these people have served, horribly, a long time. It would be very, very cumbersome to go and look – you know how many people we’re talking about? 1,500 people.”.
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. And if you look at it, it all had to do with him.”.
Joe Biden has very bad advisers. Somebody advised Joe Biden to give pardons to everybody but him.”.
Donald Trump has described attacks on police officers at the US Capitol on January 6 2021 as “very minor incidents” as he sought to defend his decision to pardon the insurrectionists. Those pardoned include more than 250 people who were convicted of assault charges, some having attacked police with makeshift weapons such as flagpoles, a hockey stick and a crutch.
Trump also used the prime-time Fox News interview to discuss his barrage of executive orders, dismiss security concerns over Chinese-owned app TikTok (“Is it that important for China to be spying on young people, on young kids watching crazy videos?”) and discuss the possibility of cutting off federal funds to so-called “sanctuary cities” that shield undocumented immigrants from federal detention requests.
On Thursday, Trump will speak remotely at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, delivering his first major speech to global business and political leaders. He is due to give a speech and engage in a dialogue at 11am US Eastern Time (4pm GMT), according to the meeting schedule. It is not clear what he will discuss.
The new US presidential envoy for special missions has pushed back against Nato chief, Mark Rutte’s talk at the World Economic Forum about Ukraine joining Nato, pointing out many members of the alliance aren’t paying their “fair share” already. Richard Grenell, appointed by Trump in December, said it is “pretty shocking” that so many foreign ministers in Europe, and so many US politicians, did not try to stop the Russia-Ukraine war, and criticised Biden’s handling of the situation.
