Biden laughed when asked about Ron DeSantis claiming he may pardon Trump if elected president
- DeSantis said if elected president he'd consider pardons for Capitol rioters or even Trump.
- When asked about the comments, Biden chuckled and waved it off.
When asked for comment on presidents pardoning Donald Trump after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested he could do just that, President Joe Biden laughed.
"Did you see that Ron DeSantis said that if he became president he would pardon Trump? Where are you on the idea of presidents pardoning Trump?" a reporter asked Biden on Monday, video showed.
Biden, appearing amused by the question, chuckled, raised his hand in dismissal, and turned to walk away.
DeSantis, who officially announced last week he is running for president in 2024, was asked on a conservative podcast whether or not he would consider pardons for Capitol rioters — something Trump has already promised.
"A big part of being president is pardon powers. Do you think the January 6 defendants deserve to have their cases examined by a Republican president?" Clay Travis of "The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show" asked DeSantis. "And if Trump, let's say, gets charged with federal offenses and you are the president of the United States, would you look at potentially pardoning Trump himself based on the evidence that might emerge of those charges?"
DeSantis did not dismiss the notion and indicated that pardons for rioters and for Trump would be on the table.
"I will have folks that will get together and look at all these cases, who are people who are victims of weaponization or political targeting, and we will be aggressive at issuing pardons," DeSantis said, adding that it would be done on a "case-by-case basis."
When asked if that could include Trump, DeSantis said "any example of disfavored treatment based on politics or weaponization" would be reviewed.