Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said President Joe Biden made an “enormous error” in not pardoning former President Donald Trump.
In an interview on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, the outspoken Trump critic offered a rare defense of the former president, arguing that Biden should have pardoned him in the federal cases he faces.
“[Biden] should have fought like crazy to keep this prosecution from going forward,” Romney said. “It was a win-win for Donald Trump.”
“You may disagree with this, but had I been President Biden when the Justice Department brought on indictments, I would have immediately pardoned him. I’d have pardoned President Trump,” he added. “Why? Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned a little guy.”
Romney believed there was precedent in this case from former President Lyndon B. Johnson, showing that Biden could have taken action to stop Trump’s prosecution, even by urging New York prosecutors in the hush money case to drop the charges.
“I have been around for a while. If LBJ had been president and he didn’t want something like this to happen, he’d have been all over that prosecutor, saying, ‘You better not bring that forward or I’m gonna drive you out of office,’” he said.
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Romney also offered criticism of Republicans who have shown up to the courthouse in a show of solidarity.
“I think it’s a terrible fault for our country to see people attacking our legal system — that’s an enormous mistake,” he said. “I think it’s also demeaning for people to quite apparently try and run for vice president by donning a red tie and standing outside the courthouse. It’s just — I’d have felt awkward.”
