President Joe Biden has vowed not to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, as he faces a federal gun crimes trial in Delaware.
During an interview in Normandy, France, where he is commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Biden responded with a single word when ABC asked if he had ruled out using his clemency powers in the two federal cases against Hunter, including alleged tax evasion.
“Yes,” Biden said, according to excerpts before the full interview airs Thursday night.
Hunter Biden is on trial in Delaware for allegedly lying on paperwork to obtain a firearm and illegally carrying the weapon while addicted to drugs. He also faces nine additional tax-related charges, including tax evasion, in California, with those proceedings expected to begin in September.
World News Tonight anchor David Muir also asked Biden if he would respect the verdicts in Hunter’s trials.
“Yes,” Biden responded.
However, Biden criticized former President Donald Trump, his 2024 Republican opponent, for not respecting his trial’s outcome. Last week, a New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up an extramarital affair with Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. “He’s trying to undermine it,” Biden said. “He got a fair trial. The jury spoke.”
Abroad, Biden clarified that his decision to permit Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons in Russia was not an authorization for “strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.” He emphasized that these weapons are authorized for use near the border to target specific sites in Ukraine. “We’re not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia,” he said.
Regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden stated, “I’ve known him for over 40 years. He’s concerned me for 40 years. He’s not a decent man. … He’s a dictator, and he’s struggling to keep his country together while continuing this assault.”
On the Gaza war, Biden reiterated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “listening” to him as Israel and Hamas restart ceasefire negotiations. Both Biden and Netanyahu face domestic political pressure to end the war due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, while Netanyahu is also under scrutiny from hard-line Republicans to destroy Hamas.
At 81, Biden may be the last U.S. president born before D-Day to mark the anniversary of the military operation that led to the end of World War II. After his trip to France, he is scheduled to travel to Italy for the 50th Group of Seven summit. “They saved the world,” Biden said of those who participated in the largest seaborne invasion in history. “We can never let anybody forget what they did and why they did it.”
