Past Pardons

Why People Got Clemency From Trump


When taking a guess, one has to consider the reasons Donald Trump might issue certain pardons. Since he has no real incentive to issue pardons that please the public or serve justice — such as was done when pardoning Susan B. Anthony, he probably will not do any more of that sort. He simply doesn’t seem to have any feeling for the public good. So the legal cases of most ordinary people have no chance at all, we expect.


Of other sorts of pardons, Trump has not really shown interest in any societal cause that might lead him to want to pardon someone. Instead, his causes are personal ones that involve himself. So he may feel a wish to pardon individuals whose actions/crimes had to do with right-wing aims such as gun rights, suppression of BLM protests, anti-abortion activism, and the like, because anger and controversy helped Trump in the elections. When he shows support of violent right-wing offenders, his base supports him.


Any pardon he has made of ordinary people, such as the one of Alice M. Johnson for drug charges, was done at the urging of someone famous (in this case, Kim Kardashian) and seems to have been done for show. 


He is capable of another sort of pardon: those made out of spite towards his enemies. He may be the first American president to be seen doing such a thing. He pardoned Joe Arpaio (and maybe Bernard Kerik) seemingly to enrage certain groups.

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