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JD Vance was raked over the coals by MAGA supporters over the weekend after saying that some of the rioters who participated in the deadly Jan. 6 riot “obviously” should not receive pardons.
Vance made his comments on “Fox News Sunday,” saying:
I think it’s very simple: Look, if you protested peacefully on January the 6th and you’ve had [Attorney General] 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. And there’s a little bit of a gray area there, but we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law. And there are a lot of people, we think, in the wake of January the 6th who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that.
This has always been a dubious distinction made by those looking to downplay the severity of Jan. 6. There were no “peaceful protesters” charged for participating in the insurrectionist mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Aside from that: Vance was getting ahead of his skis.
As NBC News noted, Trump — who will actually hold pardon power — hasn’t ruled out pardoning people who pleaded guilty to violent crimes on Jan. 6. So Vance’s remarks were ill-received online by several of Trump’s supporters — including Jan. 6 participants themselves.
So Vance’s remarks were ill-received online by several of Trump’s supporters — including Jan. 6 participants themselves.
In response to criticism on X from the Hodgetwins, a popular far-right content creator duo, the vice president-elect touted his Jan. 6 bona fides by saying he “donated to the J6 political prisoner fund” and that he has been “defending these guys for years.” Saying that Trump will “look at each case” does not mark a change in position, he added.
“I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial,” Vance wrote.
Just to reiterate: No one was “unjustly locked up” for their role in the Jan. 6 riot. But it seems clear that a lot of MAGA world wants a complete exoneration of everyone who participated in the insurrection. And Vance’s attempt to differentiate some rioters from others isn’t cutting it for them.