Half of US Adults Disapprove of Joe Biden Pardoning Hunter: Poll

Fifty percent of U.S. adults do not approve of President Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter, according to a new YouGov poll.

On Sunday, President Biden announced the pardon saying in part, “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”

Hunter was due to be sentenced in December in his two criminal cases involving federal tax fraud and a gun charge. He was facing up to 25 years in prison as he was found guilty on three felony charges. President Biden said, while announcing the pardon, that Hunter’s case was ultimately a “miscarriage of justice” and hopes that Americans can “understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”

The pardon also comes after numerous public comments by both Biden and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that the president would not pardon Hunter.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for additional comment Tuesday night.

In the survey conducted on Monday, YouGov polled 3,583 U.S. adults asking if they approve or disapprove of President Biden pardoning his son. Fifteen percent somewhat disapprove, and 35 percent strongly disapprove.

The survey also shows that 17 percent strongly approve, and another 17 percent somewhat approve of the president’s move. Sixteen percent were not sure, the poll shows.

By political affiliation, 21 percent of Democrats disapprove of the president’s pardon compared to 53 percent of Independents. Seventy-nine percent of Republicans disapprove of it, the poll shows.

Meanwhile, the president was hit with a wave of bipartisan backlash after the pardon with Democratic Senator Michael Bennet saying it “put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all.”

Congressman Greg Landsman, an Ohio Democrat, also posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “As a father, I get it. But as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it’s a setback.”

In Biden’s defense, Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar previously told Newsweek in an exclusive interview that it is ultimately Biden’s “prerogative”, also saying, “I know family members have been pardoned in the past.”

President-elect Donald Trump reacted to the news on his social media platform Truth Social saying, “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!”