Twitter Users Have Questions About Trump's Jan. 6 Pardon Plan: 'Isn’t That Sedition?'
Donald Trump’s admission that he’s “looking very strongly” at pardoning Jan. 6 defendants if he runs for the presidency again had a lot of Twitter users asking questions.
Mainly: How legal is that?
On Thursday, the former president told Pennsylvania-based conservative broadcaster Wendy Bell that he will “look very, very favorably about full pardons” if he decides to run and actually wins.
“I will be looking very, very strongly about pardons. Full pardons,” Trump said, adding that those “full pardons” would come with an apology.
He also claimed he was “financially supporting” some Jan. 6 insurrectionists.
That’s potentially good news for Trump supporters who participated in the Capitol riots, but Trump is a notorious liar; he’s previously promised to pay the legal fees of his more aggressive supporters, only to reverse course.
In new interview, Trump says he met with J6ers recently and is “financially supporting” some of them. Then says if he wins re-election he will be “looking very strongly at full pardons” for all J6 defendants, “with an apology” from the govt. pic.twitter.com/xdIVEMt7Sf
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) September 1, 2022
Here’s what Twitter users had to say about Trump’s plan:
So, if you are meeting with seditionists and giving them money and promising them pardons which could be seen as obstruction of justice and support for further anti-government violence...isn't that, um, sedition? https://t.co/XBTALURFaA
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) September 1, 2022
Coup leader pledges relief to his assistants https://t.co/V6y8KMRa7B
— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) September 1, 2022
But this isn't fascism, right? https://t.co/RCqafONDMX
— Adam Blickstein (@AdamBlickstein) September 1, 2022
If Trump is elected, he'll apologize to the J6 traitors because the Capitol police got in the way of their bats, poles, stun guns and bear spray. https://t.co/O3yDuONSfk
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) September 1, 2022
So the former president just promised to pardon the insurrectionists of January 6 when he gets back in office, I don't know maybe that's newsworthy https://t.co/5afJc6Y78e
— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) September 1, 2022
Basically. An endorsement of political violence. From the side foaming at the mouth about being called semi-fascists. https://t.co/7QVj6372jz
— Paul Niland (@PaulNiland) September 1, 2022
Trump admits to funding the people who violently attacked the capitol in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the election.
Also, he wants to pardon them and wants America to apologize to them. https://t.co/YPaaQ03lXg— Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) September 1, 2022
As always, Trump's view is "alegal" — "unconcerned with legal and illegal." If someone commits a crime to help him, he sees that as a good act, not a bad one. It is an act to help him, and therefore it is good. https://t.co/mrt1riq1knhttps://t.co/IUrT6gEkZb
— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) September 1, 2022
One person thought the issue was serious enough that all Republican candidates should be pressed on their own possible pardon plans.
It's reasonable to believe that most Republican candidates in 2024 will dangle pardons for the January 6th rioters as a way to curry favor with Trump's base. They should all be asked about that, repeatedly, until they answer clearly. https://t.co/6uTnCk7IqY
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) September 1, 2022
And another Twitter user suggested things are so bad for Trump that it’s unlikely he’ll ever have a chance to pardon the Jan. 6 rioters.
He'll never get the chance to pardon anyone. Ever. https://t.co/5GWmOfSVbL
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) September 1, 2022
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.