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President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, over federal gun and tax charges is hardly shocking. Instead, it should be viewed as another glaring example of political hypocrisy and media bias.

Despite repeated assurances from both Joe Biden and the White House that no such pardon would occur, the mainstream media’s response had been conspicuously muted and accepting. They didn’t question the veracity of the claims in any meaningful way. They offered a follow-up question or two. But then they just accepted the answer as if it were the truth when everyone knew Biden would wait until after the election to offer the pardon for Hunter.

That media outlets merely accepted those promises shows you the extent to which they protected Biden. It strains credulity to believe they’d offer the same kind of coverage of Donald Trump promising not to pardon a criminal member of his family. And rather than explain why it went so easy on Biden, or criticize the president for lying, the media will fall back on a talking point they believe will play well with the American people. They’ll ask us how we can fault a father for protecting his son, hoping they’ll avoid taking any responsibility for their poor performance as journalists.

Joe Biden lied many, many, many times about Hunter pardon

In the months leading up to this decision, President Biden and his administration that Hunter would not receive a pardon.

Joe Biden said on June 13, “I said I鈥檇 abide by the jury decision, and I will do that. And I will not pardon him.” A few days early, ABC鈥檚 David Muir asked the president if he would accept the jury鈥檚 outcome in Hunter’s trial. 鈥淗ave you ruled out a pardon for your son?鈥� Muir asked. The president replied, “Yes.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre affirmed this position as recently as November 7, 2024, stating, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times and our answer stands 鈥� which is no.”

Yet, on December 1, 2024, the President granted a “full and unconditional pardon” to his son from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, covering his tax and gun charges, along with any other crimes he may have committed while with Burisma and while Joe Biden was vice president.

Media double standard

This abrupt (and inevitable) reversal should have prompted a media outcry, highlighting the administration’s duplicity. Instead, many mainstream outlets have downplayed the inconsistency, focusing instead on the President’s justification that Hunter was “unfairly prosecuted” due to “raw politics.” After his Department of Justice ruthlessly targeted Trump, Biden had the to claim that “Hunter was treated differently,” and that the charges were brought only after “several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election.”

In response, CNN framed the pardon as unfairly giving Trump more room for his talking point around “claims of politicized justice.” MSNBC used the pardon to “the problem with Trump’s reaction to the Hunter Biden pardon.”

Talk about a double standard in media coverage.

Would Trump pardoning Don Jr. elicit the same coverage?

To understand the depth of this bias, consider the hypothetical scenario of former President Donald Trump pardoning one of his children. The media and Democratic leaders would undoubtedly erupt in condemnation, accusing him of corruption and abuse of power. In fact, during Trump’s presidency, mere for family members sparked significant media attention and criticism. At the time, the Associated Press reported that the DOJ was investigating “a possible pardon scheme” by Trump.

Moreover, when Trump exercised his pardon power for political allies, such as in the case of Steve Bannon, the media was quick to these actions as self-serving and corrupt.

Yet, when President Biden pardons his own son, the response is comparatively subdued, with some media voices justifying the action.

Molly Jong-Fast of MSNBC, who has a strikingly awful and partisan take on everything, to the news by saying, “I don鈥檛 have a take 鈥� I鈥檓 sorry!” Then, MSNBC analyst Michelle Goldberg repeated the Biden talking point and somehow blaming Trump for the pardon.

“Look, I don鈥檛 think that Democrats can uphold all of these norms singlehandedly,” she claimed. “Hunter Biden was prosecuted for a crime that a normal person who had committed the same crime would almost certainly not be prosecuted for it. Joe Biden bent over backward not to intervene in order to show how much of a respecter of norms he was, unlike Donald Trump. But yeah, you know, we see kind of what that got him. And I certainly understand why 鈥� he would not want to forfeit the future and life of his son to uphold a set of norms that are about to go up in smoke.”

Selective outrage

The media’s selective outrage is evident.

When a Republican president considers using pardon powers, it’s portrayed as a constitutional crisis. But when a Democratic president does the same, especially under even more questionable circumstances and a clear conflict of interest, it’s either justified or ignored. This double standard erodes public trust in the media and highlights a partisan bias that undermines journalistic integrity. It’s precisely why the media is not trusted.

President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son is not just a personal act of compassion; it’s a political maneuver that contradicts his previous commitments and exposes a troubling double standard in media coverage. It would be lovely if left-wing media outlets would use the Democrat’s line that “No one is above the law,” but we shouldn’t hold our collective breath.

The media’s failure to call itself out for shoddy journalism that took the word of Biden merely because he’s a Democrat does a disservice to news consumers. It’s another blemish on the Fourth Estate’s role as a watchdog of democracy.

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