More than half of the electorate disapproves of President Joe Biden’s decision to grant clemency to his son, Hunter Biden.
Our exclusive new survey highlights that many Americans equate Biden’s actions, despite his earlier assurances of impartiality, with some of the most notorious political scandals in recent history, such as Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, and Bill Clinton’s scandal involving Monica Lewinsky.
Consequently, Biden’s approval rating, already at a historical low, has dipped by an additional four percentage points to 37 percent, as revealed by a J.L. Partners survey of 804 registered voters.
The 82-year-old president announced on Sunday evening that he had issued a pardon for Hunter, attributing his son’s gun and federal tax convictions to political motivations.
The backlash was immediate and severe, with even some Democrats cautioning that this move could set a troubling precedent for future administrations.
According to our survey conducted on Sunday evening, 52 percent of those polled believe that Biden’s decision to pardon his son was incorrect, while only 29 percent supported the action.
Republicans were overwhelming in their disapproval: 79 percent to 13 percent.
But even Democrats struggled to defend his actions. Less than half (47 percent) said he had done the right thing.
J.L. Partners polled 804 registered voters on December 2. The results carry a margin of error of plus/minus 3.5 percentage points
President Joe Biden spent Thanksgiving with his son Hunter before announcing his decision on Sunday evening, shortly before flying to Angola
In all, some 54 percent said it set a bad precedent. Just 10 percent said set a good precedent.
‘This poll shows that in pardoning his son Joe Biden has driven a stake through his own reputation,’ said James Johnson, cofounder of J.L. Partners.
‘By an overwhelming margin, voters think that it was the wrong thing to do.
‘Nor can Democrat voters bring themselves to defend it.
‘As Biden leaves office, his already negative approval ratings have taken a further hit. He will bow out as a tarnished political figure—seen as old, ineffective, and now having made a decision that voters believe will cripple Americans’ trust in democracy.’
Half of voters said the pardon was just as damaging (21 percent) or more damaging (29 percent) to public trust as Clinton’s affair with a White House intern. The then president was impeached after being accused of giving misleading testimony when he denied having ‘sexual relations’ with Lewinsky.
And the pardon is even up there with some of the most destructive scandals in recent political history.
Respondents (50 percent) said it was as damaging as Watergate, which triggered the downfall of President Richard Nixon, and as bad as (54 percent) the Iran-Contra affair, when it emerged that senior officials in the Reagan administration secretly facilitated arms sales to Tehran as part of a plan to use the proceeds to back rebels in Nicaragua.
Hunter Biden’s troubles stem from his years of addition
A photograph showing former White House intern Monica Lewinsky meeting President Bill Clinton at a White House function submitted as evidence in documents by the Starr investigation and released by the House Judiciary committee September 21, 1998
Richard Nixon bids farewell to White House staff in 1974. A break-in at the Watergate hotel by Republican operatives triggered a cascade of events that eventually led to his resignation
When voters were asked how well the president was performing last week, some 41 percent said they approved of his performance. Some 47 percent said the disapproved.
When they were asked in the hours after the performance, 37 percent said they approved (down four) and 48 percent said the disapproved, sending his rating further underwater.
The pardon is the latest twist in a legal saga that has plagued the president’s son since his chaotic days addicted to drugs.
In September, he pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in Los Angeles and was due to be sentenced on Dec. 16.
And a Delaware jury found him guilty in June of making false statements when he bought a gun in 2018. He was also due to be sentenced for those charges later this month.
Biden and his team repeatedly and emphatically ruled out any suggestion that the president would use his pardon powers to help his son.
In June, the president was asked about the gun case and said: ‘I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.’
A month later, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: ‘It’s still a no. It will be a no. It is a no. And I don’t have anything else to add.
‘Will he pardon his son? No.’
Biden released a statement on Sunday evening announcing the pardon of his son Hunter
On Sunday night, just before Biden was due to leave the country, that no became a yes.
‘Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,’ said Biden, as he announced the pardon.
Reaction was swift and damning.
Political opponents delighted in accusing him of a humiliating U-turn.
President-elect Donald Trump called the pardon ‘an abuse and miscarriage of justice!’
And allies expressed frustration, warning that it would now be harder to take on Trump and his claims that he was the victim of a weaponized legal system.
‘This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,’ Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis wrote in a post on X.
