President Donald Trump dodged then rambled Tuesday when asked why he pardoned a violent Capitol rioter. (Watch the video below.)
Trump granted clemency on Inauguration Day for about 1,500 convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. But his inclusion of those who attacked police reportedly went beyond what his own party wanted.
NBC News’ Peter Alexander brought up one particular case to the returning president.
“You would agree that it’s never acceptable to assault a police officer?” Alexander began.
“Sure,” Trump said.
“So, then, if I can, among those you pardoned, D.J. Rodriguez, he drove a stun gun into the neck of a D.C. police officer who was abducted by the mob that day,” Alexander said. “He later confessed on video to the FBI and pleaded guilty for his crimes. Why does he deserve a pardon?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Trump answered. “Was it a pardon? Because we’re looking at commutes, and we’re looking at pardons.”
Informed it was a pardon, Trump danced further.
“We’ll look at everything,” he continued. (However, a pardon is not rescindable.)
Trump diverted to false claims about murderers never being charged in blue cities. He veered off into false allegations about the George Floyd protests.
But in the word salad were a few details about his decision to pardon, though not focusing on Rodriguez in particular.
He asserted that those convicted had done enough time in conditions he deemed “inhumane.”
“These people have already served years in prison, and they’ve served them viciously,” he said. “It’s a disgusting prison. It’s been horrible, it’s inhumane, it’s been a terrible, terrible thing. … So, these people have always served a long period of time and I made a decision to give a pardon.”
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Trump also suggested there was tit-for-tat at play, falsely claiming that President Joe Biden had pardoned criminals the day before. Biden did issue preemptive pardons to Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, members of the Jan. 6 committee and some family. None were charged with crimes but could be targeted in a perceived vengeance campaign by the new administration.
h/t Mediaite