Bernie Sanders Tells Biden To Consider Preemptive Pardons To Protect Against ‘Tinpot Dictator’ Trump

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders urged President Biden to seriously consider issuing some preemptive pardons to the people that Donald Trump is threatening to go after once he returns to office. Sanders made the comments during an appearance on CNN this past Sunday, while adding that Trump’s rhetoric is making him sound like a “tinpot dictator.” Preemptive pardons could be risky, but it may be a risk worth taking, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

As the threats of Donald Trump issuing retribution against all of those people that he feels have wronged him over the years become even graver. Even Bernie Sanders at this point, independent senator from the state of Vermont, even Bernie Sanders is now saying that President Biden may want to seriously consider issuing some of those preemptive pardons just to protect these people from Donald Trump making their lives. Hell. Here is what Bernie Sanders said this past weekend on Meet the Press, when Trump talks about sending to jail people who won that Jan, or people who were on that January 6th committee, that sounds like being a 10 pot dictator. So I would hope that we have an FBI and a justice department that protects the civil liberties of the American people and does its best to protect the American democracy host. Kristen Walker then responded by saying, well, we know the White House is considering potential preemptive pardons of those who've clashed with President-elect Trump. In light of what the President-elect said to me that, yes, he does think that members of the January 6th committee should go to jail. Do you think that Mr. Biden should issue preemptive pardons for the entire January 6th committee? Bernie responded, well, I think he might want to consider that very seriously. Look, that is an outrageous statement. That is what authoritarianism is all about. It's what dictatorship is all about. You do not arrest elected officials who disagree with you.

So if we're at the point where even Bernie Sanders is like, you know what? Maybe Biden ought to take a look at this and see what's what he can do, um, I think that's a good indicator that you know what President Biden, it's time to issue these preemptive pardons. There is no need to wait. You can do it like you did for your son, hunter. Just say, from this period of time to this period of time, you are pardoned from any federal crimes that you may have committed. I do not care what they are. I do not care where they were. If it happened between this date and this date, you are forgiven. And for the record, legally speaking, the President does have the authority to do that. However, it comes with a risk, right? The Supreme Court tells us that the acceptance of a pardon is tantamount to an admission of guilt. And when you have an admission of guilt, you no longer have Fifth Amendment protections. So in the off chance one of these people who receives a preemptive pardon, actually did commit a federal crime or was party to a federal crime, they would no longer have Fifth Amendment protection. So if your buddy robbed a bank or, or you know, and you knew that they robbed the bank, you're not gonna be able to go there and say like, I plead the fifth. You'll have to testify against your buddy for whatever crime they may have committed. Now,

Again, that is a risk, but at the same time, uh, I I, I don't know that that's applicable, right? Yeah. You lose your Fifth Amendment protection for anything you may have been aware of that happened during the time for which you were pardoned, but the odds of that are like super duper low. So I, it is a risk, but I don't think it's like a real risk. You know, I think the benefit to the preemptive, pardon outweighs that potential risk that probably doesn't even exist. But it shouldn't just be the January 6th committee, right?