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Hunter Biden, the son of former President Biden, on Friday said the pardon he received in 2024 was “not good” for the American people or his father’s legacy, calling himself the “the most privileged person there is.”
The younger Biden, in an interview with BBC’s “Newsnight,” said he understood the backlash the former president received after issuing the clemency, after he repeatedly pledged that he would not intervene in his son’s criminal cases.
“It’s something that is easily criticized and for good reason,” Hunter told the outlet. “It’s not fair.”
“I was the only one in the world that could have gotten what I got from the only person in the world who could give it: my father,” he added.
Hunter noted he was “eternally grateful” for the privilege from his father, because he believed President Trump’s incoming administration would have retaliated against him for revenge against his “political enemies.” Still, he acknowledged the risks.
“Was it good for our Constitution? Was it good for the American people? Was it good for my father’s legacy? No on all counts,” he continued.
Biden granted his son clemency covering federal offenses Hunter committed or may have committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024. The pardon wiped away Hunter’s federal gun conviction and tax charges to which he pleaded guilty to.
In a statement announcing the pardon, the former president argued his son had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden said at the time.
Hunter told the BBC that the two never discussed the possibility of a pardon before his father, who has been battling a cancer diagnosis, granted it.
“There is no way that you can have those kinds of discussions that would not become public,” he added.
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