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Opinion: Mitt Romney Has a Point About Pardoning Trump
The Daily Beast ^ | May 17, 2024 | Matt Lewis

Posted on 05/17/2024 10:56:24 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?

Donald Trump poses an existential threat to liberal democracy; therefore, a reasonable reaction to his possible return to power has been to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him.

This ranged from supporting his impeachment and removal, to voting for his adversaries (including Nikki Haley), to charging him with 88 criminal offenses in four criminal cases.........

During an interview on Wednesday with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, Romney said that President Joe Biden should have “immediately pardoned” Trump from federal charges, and that Biden also “made an enormous error” by not pushing New York prosecutors to drop their charges against Trump in the hush money case......

At this point, you’re probably wondering what happened to Mitt Romney, and why he has been replaced by Steve Bannon. But there is a method to his madness. According to Romney, preemptively pardoning Trump would have helped Biden politically, positioning him as “the big guy” who “pardoned a little guy.”

At first blush, this sounds fanciful. Imagine the criticism Biden would have endured if, in the wake of the Big Lie and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, he threw Trump yet another lifeline.

But in hindsight, Romney’s counterfactual isn’t as crazy as it might sound. By going out of his way to treat Trump with the deference of a political invalid, Biden would have looked like the alpha dog.

Might Trump have rejected the offer, based on the premise that accepting a pardon is tantamount to admitting guilt? It hardly matters. Merely by offering the pardon, Biden would have deprived Trump of some of his most potent weapons—Trump’s identity as a victim of Biden’s “deep state,” as well as what is both his personal motivation and political organizing principle: retribution.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: capitolriot; election2024; jan6; letsgobrandon; mattlewis; rejectthepardon; romney; trumppardon; trumptrials
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

The Rats are acting as if they are on Trump’s payroll. Don’t throw Trump into the conviction/prison briar patch! Oh Noes!


21 posted on 05/18/2024 4:18:09 AM PDT by caddie
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To: Ciaphas Cain

“Donald Trump poses an existential threat to liberal democracy”

That depends on the interpretation. Mine is Trump is indeed a threat to the liberals and their idea of democracy.

Examples I’m thinking of are the Peoples Democratic Republic of Korea and the Peoples Democratic Republic of China. These are examples of what our ultra liberal democrats want as a form of democracy.


22 posted on 05/18/2024 4:42:19 AM PDT by redfreedom (Joseph Stalin: "It does not mater how anyone votes, how votes are counted is what matters.")
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Translation: These kangaroo courts are making him more popular! Hey Biden - declare him guilty and pardon him. Then you can go on campaign and say “I had to pardon this guy for 91 felonies”


23 posted on 05/18/2024 5:00:46 AM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Ritt Momsey lost a debate to the Magic Negro.Ever since then he has labored under a Hillery Clinton complex.

Biden is so scared of TRump that he sees Trumps ghost in his bedroom every night, a fact that Romney cannot admit.


24 posted on 05/18/2024 5:05:38 AM PDT by Candor7 (Ask not for whom the Trump Trolls,He trolls for thee!),<img src="" width=500</img><a href="">tag</a>)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Don’t listen to anything Pierre Delecto has to say.


25 posted on 05/18/2024 5:07:11 AM PDT by abbastanza (he)
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To: redfreedom

Same sort of thing is happening in Germany. Those in power consider anything that threatens their power to be “a threat to democracy” to the point that they are openly scheming to rig and even cancel elections.

For them, “Democracy” simply means their own personal power or the power of their party. It’s the antithesis of what the word actually means.


26 posted on 05/18/2024 5:07:20 AM PDT by hopespringseternal
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To: kenmcg

The time for pardon was 3+ years ago before the psycho libs began this witch hunt. Now it would just make it an admission by Trump that he did these things only because the lefties have shot their vacant wads. Next up will come the call to let’s all be friends. I cannot wait for them to be in prison, exciled, or exterminated.


27 posted on 05/18/2024 5:08:50 AM PDT by Mouton (A 150MT hit will not solve our problems now.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Biden would have had to do it early, while the public was still blind to the sham investigations, set ups, government prosecutors altering to hiding evidence, and the public understanding that the Hunter Biden laptop information was real, as well as the 24 hour media blitz and Nancy Pelosi run Jan 6th panel.

Now, it would look like fear, the public will smell it, and Biden will lose more support. Mitt plan was brilliant, but the timing is bad now.


28 posted on 05/18/2024 5:08:56 AM PDT by Pete Dovgan (Repeatedl)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Haven’t all these cases been orchestrated by the White House?


29 posted on 05/18/2024 5:30:01 AM PDT by Ge0ffrey
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
Biden also “made an enormous error” by not pushing New York prosecutors to drop their charges against Trump in the
hush money case....

A risible proposition, since recent review of visitor logs reveal collusion between Bragg and the White house.

30 posted on 05/18/2024 5:31:43 AM PDT by Thommas (The snout of the camel is already under the tent.)
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To: OakOak

All the people who over the past everal years who lied, schemed and brought false accusations against President Trump need to be sued to the point of castration

I mean there IS hard evidence of who they are and what they did


31 posted on 05/18/2024 5:32:39 AM PDT by SMARTY (In politics, stupidity is not a handicap. Napoleon Bonaparte I)
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To: Mouton

Agree 100%. Biden chose poorly on how to damage Trump. Trump is about to beat all the charges and be virtually invincible as a result.

The Democrats absolutely stole the 2020 election and they won’t get away with it again in 2024.


32 posted on 05/18/2024 5:37:56 AM PDT by Gahanna Bob
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Why is Romeny giving strategy advice to Democrats? Does he have dementia and think he’s a Democrat now?


33 posted on 05/18/2024 5:51:04 AM PDT by Blue Highway
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Jaw dropping...by pardoning Trump the serial liar, confabulator, demented grifter, treasonous fool who has sold out his Country for decades would have looked noble.
Pull the other one; it’s got bells on.


34 posted on 05/18/2024 5:59:43 AM PDT by JayGalt (DEI = Didn’t Earn It)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

How do you pardon someone from a crime which isn’t a crime????

And to accept the pardon is to admit guilt.


35 posted on 05/18/2024 6:00:45 AM PDT by elpadre
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Mad dogs mad dog, they don’t think. And besides, Biden would still be Biden and effing every thing up as he has in fact done.


36 posted on 05/18/2024 6:20:07 AM PDT by TalBlack (I We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Pierre happens to be correct this time. It would have been politically astute for Xiden to take Trump out of the headlines and appear to take the high road, even if his motivation would have been purely political

Even an anosmic pig finds a truffle every once in a while…


37 posted on 05/18/2024 7:33:00 AM PDT by clintonh8r (The truth is hate speech to those who hate the truth)
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To: elpadre
”And to accept the pardon is to admit guilt.”

I don’t believe this is true. I don’t believe one has the power to refuse a pardon. A pardon is basically an order from the executive that prosecutors shall not prosecute. I would hope that the Supreme Court ( and any lower courts) would refuse to cooperate in the prosecution of a pardoned individual.

38 posted on 05/18/2024 7:42:04 AM PDT by William Tell
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Clearly the moron Mitt doesn’t understand that the Biden DOJ is BEHIND all the BS legal cases. Why would Biden pardon Trump after going to so much trouble to frame him?


39 posted on 05/18/2024 8:31:15 AM PDT by LizzieD
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
Mitt and the guy who wrote this Op-ed are retarded.

Biden would never push New York prosecutors to drop their charges against Trump because, Biden is the one who pushed the NYC prosecutors to charge Trump.

Mitt only talks pardons now because it looks like Trump is beating all the charges and gaining in the polls because of it.

And Mitt's POV isn't like Bannon's.

And that' only the retarded stuff in the first four short paragraphs. Goodness knows what follows in the remaining part of this piece.

40 posted on 05/18/2024 8:54:30 AM PDT by FreeReign
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