Donald Trump ally Lindsey Graham says pardoning January 6 rioters was a ‘mistake’ and could lead to more violence
A prominent Republican senator and longtime ally of Donald Trump has questioned his decision to pardon January 6 rioters.
Lindsey Graham said the move was a “mistake” and could lead to more violence.
Mr Trump announced a blanket pardon for about 1,500 of his supporters who attacked the US Capitol in 2021 as part of a flurry of executive orders.
Some of those who were freed from jail earlier this week had assaulted police officers during the insurrection.
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January 6 rioters reunite with families
Republican senator Mr Graham said while Mr Trump had the legal authority to issue the pardons, “pardoning the people who went into the Capitol and beat up a police officer violently, I think was a mistake. Because it seems to suggest that’s an okay thing to do”.
As a result, “I fear that you will get more violence”, said Mr Graham, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Mr Trump has said that attacks on police officers during the January 6 unrest were “minor incidents”.
In his first sit-down interview since being inaugurated on Monday, recorded in the Oval Office, Mr Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity most of those who were jailed over the US Capitol riots were “absolutely innocent”.
He went on to claim those at the US Capitol were simply there “protesting the vote” before again falsely claiming the 2020 election was “rigged”.
Senator Lindsey Graham speaks during a Donald Trump campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2020. Pic: Reuters
Among those supporters who have been released from prison was Stewart Rhodes, the former leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group.
Rhodes had been serving an 18-year sentence after being convicted of plotting to use force to prevent Congress from certifying Mr Trump’s 2020 defeat to rival Joe Biden.
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Trump addresses Capitol riot pardons
The blanket pardon also drew condemnation from police who battled the mob, their families, and politicians, including some of the president’s fellow Republicans.
Graham also hits out at Biden pardons
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press programme, Mr Graham also criticised Mr Trump’s predecessor Democrat Mr Biden for issuing last-minute pardons for five family members and said Americans may want to revisit presidential pardon power if such actions continue.
“But as to pardoning violent people who beat up cops, I think that’s a mistake,” he said.
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Later in the TV show, Democratic senator Adam Schiff agreed with Mr Graham, saying Mr Biden “was wrong to give these pardons”.
He added: “What it says now to the Trump family and to President Trump’s kids: they can engage in any kind of malfeasance, criminality, graft, whatever, and they can expect a pardon on the way out the door. That is not a message you want to send to this family, or really any family occupying the White House.”
Trump criticised by brother of dead officer
Craig Sicknick, whose brother was assaulted during the riot and died of multiple strokes the next day, has called Mr Trump “pure evil”.
“The man who killed my brother is now president,” he said.
Nearly 60% of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was carried out after Mr Trump took office on Monday, said he should not pardon all of the Capitol defendants.
Charlie Kirk has been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump.
The USA’s highest civilian honour was received by the conservative activist’s widow, Erika, at the White House.
Mr Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on 10 September while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University.
He founded Turning Point USA and toured American university campuses, debating students about current affairs.
Erika Kirk at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Erika Kirk and Donald Trump. Pic: Reuters
Addressing those attending the ceremony in the White House rose garden, the US president said they were there to “honour and remember a fearless warrior for liberty” and a “beloved leader who galvanised the next generation”.
He said Mr Kirk’s name was being entered “forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes”.
Mr Trump described Charlie Kirk as an “American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest calibre”.
He said his nation had been “robbed” of an “extraordinary champion”.
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And Mr Trump said Mr Kirk was assassinated in the “prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith, and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America”.
The ceremony coincided with what would have been Mr Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
Mr Trump described Erika Kirk, now head of Turning Point USA, as someone who had “endured unspeakable hardship with unbelievable strength”.
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Charlie Kirk. File pic: AP
A 22-year-old man, Tyler Robinson, from the city of Washington in Utah has been charged with Mr Kirk’s murder. Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty.
At a memorial event held at a stadium in Arizona, Erika Kirk told an enormous crowd she forgave her husband’s killer.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” she said.
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