Within the Trump transition team, there was considerable discussion regarding which Capitol rioters should receive pardons and which violent offenders should remain incarcerated, ultimately resulting in a spontaneous decision influenced by a four-letter phrase from the then-president-elect.
“Trump simply stated: ‘F— it. Let them all go,’” disclosed a close adviser to Axios regarding the discussions.
On Monday, Trump granted a sweeping pardon to approximately 1,500 rioters who invaded the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to reverse former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. During the ordeal, a police officer and four individuals from the mob lost their lives, while four additional officers died by suicide in subsequent months.
The insurrectionists attacked police officers using pepper spray and flagpoles, stomped on their heads, detonated a bomb in a police-filled tunnel, hurled officers down staircases, and even conspired to assassinate FBI agents probing the incident.
The Justice Department condemned the insurrection as a form of domestic terrorism, and several prominent individuals involved—such as leaders from the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militias—received prison sentences of as much as 22 years. Trump chose to grant them clemency rather than full pardons, allowing their convictions to remain intact, although some may soon be back out in public.
Throughout his re-election campaign, Trump consistently vowed to pardon the “hostages” and “patriots” from January 6, referring to the rioters in those terms. In December, he mentioned to Meet the Press that he would be willing to “consider each case individually.”
However, the exhaustive evaluations seemingly became overwhelming for Trump, given his widely known short attention span. Axios reported that he began to waver on whether to provide specific clemencies or issue a general pardon.
Just days before, on January 13, Vice President JD Vance appeared on Fox News and opined that individuals who perpetrated violence during the Capitol incident on January 6, 2021, should not be granted pardons, a view he believed aligned with Trump’s perspective.
Shortly thereafter, Trump resolved he preferred to expedite the process, deciding he would pardon everyone immediately upon taking office, despite the likelihood that such a decision would be met with significant public disapproval.
A recent poll indicated that a striking 73 percent of Americans in the most competitive congressional districts were against pardoning rioters found guilty of assaulting Capitol police officers, with more than half of Republicans in agreement.
Nonetheless, Trump’s advisors believe this opposition will not result in any negative electoral repercussions, as reported by Axios. In their view, the matter had already been settled in November, with voters demonstrating they were not inclined to forsake Trump over this issue.
Interestingly, even the Fraternal Order of Police union, which criticized the pardons on Tuesday, endorsed Trump for the 2024 election, despite his commitment to pardon the rioters.
