Geraldo Rivera has called on President Biden to pardon Donald Trump “the way Ford pardoned Nixon," saying it should require a “pledge by Trump that he will no longer seek the presidency.”
I see a few problems with this.
- Richard Nixon didn't attack the DOJ and FBI for his crimes. He admitted to letting Americans down. While he didn't admit to committing a crime, he took responsibility for his actions.
- Trump has done nothing but attack the investigators, judges and juries. He is trying to turn America against our institutions.
- Even if Trump were to pledge not to seek the presidency, that doesn't mean he will stop attacking the foundations of this country.
- Trump pledging not to seek the presidency would make everyone running against Trump look weaker. The claim would be "Biden/DeSantis only won because Trump couldn't run."
- If you pardon Trump after he is convicted (if he's convicted), then you set a precedent that the President should be above the rule of law.
- Even if Biden pardoned Trump, there would be large scale conspiracy theories about how Trump was only pardoned so that Biden could get away with crimes himself. It wouldn't heal the country. It would just lead to more baseless conspiracy theories.
Let the law play out and let the dominos fall where they may.