JD Vance reiterated that the Trump administration intends to issue pardons to anyone unjustly prosecuted by the Biden administration for peacefully protesting certification of the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, while not pardoning the few who engaged in actual violence.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) -- Vice President-Elect of the United States JD Vance reiterated over the weekend that the Trump administration intends to issue pardons to anyone unjustly prosecuted by the Biden administration for peacefully protesting certification of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021, while not pardoning the few who engaged in actual violence on Capitol Hill.
The January 6 protest at the Capitol broke out following returning President Donald Trump’s rally, which was meant to encourage Congress to delay certification of the 2020 presidential election results over reports of vote fraud in several states.
Viral videos showed some people physically attacking police, pushing against security barricades, breaking through windows, trespassing in congressional offices, and climbing on walls, causing the vote certification to be suspended and lawmakers to be evacuated from the chambers. Other videos, however, also showed that many were let into the Capitol by police and simply walked the halls after the initial breach.
Several people died (some not until after the fact), but the only fatal victim of direct, intentional violence was unarmed Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, shot by a Capitol police officer while she was climbing through an interior window.
Trump’s political opponents blamed him for “inciting” hostilities, which they called an “insurrection,” leading to an unsuccessful second impeachment attempt. Yet despite the FBI failing to find evidence that the violence was planned or organized, more than a dozen Democrat committee investigations into the event continued for years, with hundreds of people arrested and many expressing concerns about their treatment and disproportionate, politically motivated punishment.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Vance told host Shannon Bream, “I think it’s very simple. Look, if you protested peacefully on January the 6th and you’ve had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
“There’s a little bit of a gray area there, but we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law,” he added. “There are a lot of people we think in the wake of January the 6th who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that.”
Vance was simply reiterating the same answer Trump himself had given before the election, but was still met with disapproval by some pro-Trump figures, including actor Nick Searcy and YouTube personalities the Hodge Twins, who advocate blanket pardons for all January 6 cases regardless of the offense.
Vance responded to the Hodge Twins on X, noting that he personally donated to the legal defense of January 6 detainees and asking, “there were federal informants in the crowd. Do they get a pardon? I don't think so. [...] I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up.”
Painting Trump as a unique danger to democracy due to January 6 has been a constant Democrat refrain ever since, even though his vigorous challenging of the 2020 election outcome never came close to impeding a peaceful transfer of power on January 20, 2021. Democrats bet heavily in 2024 that the “insurrection” narrative would render Trump unelectable, but voters demonstrated in November their discontent with the Biden-Harris economy and border situation mattered much more to them.
