Outgoing US President Joe Biden was seen saluting and blowing kisses to spectators from the top steps of Air Force One during his first public appearance on Sunday night after granting a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden. As he boarded the presidential jet for his official trip to Angola, the 82-year-old president made the patriotic gesture and also gave a thumbs up, while brushing off shouted questions from reporters about the historic clemency.
Biden is traveling to Africa to promote a US-backed railway project in three nations, a move he has championed as an unconventional strategy to reduce China’s influence globally.
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On Sunday, Biden announced that he had pardoned his son, Hunter, in the wake of his federal firearms conviction, asserting that the Justice Department had “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” him. This announcement came despite Biden previously stating that he would not pardon his son.
Pres. Biden departs for Africa …
– first visit of a U.S. president to Africa since 2015
– first-ever visit by a sitting U.S. president to Angola pic.twitter.com/iqJoxixgTR— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) December 2, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump criticized President Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter, calling it a “miscarriage of justice.”
“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Meanwhile, Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt urged Trump to pardon all those involved in the January 6 Capitol riot.
“I think he should at least commute the sentences of all of them and pardon every single one that was obviously just following the person in front of them wandering through the capital,” Hurt suggested, adding, “There were some that did more than just that. And I think he should commute their sentences and let them all out! Every single one of them.”
Over 1,200 people have been charged with offenses related to the January 6 attack, with many accused of disrupting the formal event where Congress convened to certify Biden’s election as president.
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