Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul is not a fan of former President Donald Trump or his MAGA devotees. When the presumptive GOP presidential nominee held a rally in the South Bronx last week, Hochul referred to the attendees as “clowns.”
Hochul said of Trump on CNN: “We know him better than anyone, and that means we understand what he’s all about is just for himself. So, this state will go solidly behind Joe Biden for president as it has in the past.”
The day after a New York jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony charges in his criminal trial, political pundit David Mastio (Kansas City Star, The Center Square) wrote: “The smart and merciful move for Biden is to ask the Democrat Governor of New York Kathy Hochul to use her clemency power to pardon Donald Trump.”
I’m not sure I agree with David here, but this is an interesting take on what just happened https://t.co/wKoeT3jZMF
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 31, 2024
Conservative political writer at The Atlantic, and former U.S. Naval War College political science professor, Tom Nichols, is amplifying Mastio’s suggestion of Hochul using her power to pardon Trump. He wrote: “I’m not sure I agree with David here, but this is an interesting take on what just happened.”
My latest: Just as a unanimous jury foud that Trump is corrupt, a 9-0 Supreme Court ruled that the Democrats of New York are not to be trusted. The smart move for Biden is to ask the Democratic governor of New York, Kathy Hochul to pardon Trump.
— David Mastio (@DavidMastio) May 31, 2024
https://t.co/FzSCw69Ioa
Mastio’s op-ed in today’s issue of the Kansas City Star is titled ‘Joe Biden should seek a pardon in Trump verdict and prevent disunity, martyrdom.’
The idea of pardoning Trump, echoing the pardon that President Gerald Ford gave to his disgraced predecessor Richard Nixon, has been floated before. Last week Republican Senator from Utah Mitt Romney suggested that Biden should have already pardoned Trump in the interest of unity, and that the president “made an enormous error” by not “pressuring New York prosecutors to drop their case against Trump.”
