Glenn Greenwald on X - "The US has no functional president and has not had one for months, and it's barely noticeable and barely matters because there's a permanent unelected machine that runs the government."
Wilfred Reilly on X - "This is basically all that "deep state" means. Below the 7,000 or so truly-top appointees put in place by each President exists an entire bureaucracy that consists of every person hired into every executive branch administrative agency since Nixon or a bit earlier - all serving their own little Byzantine freedom rather than "Mr. Trump" or "Mr. Biden.""
Jill Biden Spoke More in Cabinet Meeting Than President Biden
The Redheaded libertarian on X - "At no point do the Articles of the Constitution state that the first lady may sit in for the President when he cannot fulfill his duties. In fact, article II section 1 explicitly states the vice president has that responsibility."
Meme - "The Gulf Of America."
Dean Withers @itsdeaann: "Apparently renaming water is more important than addressing the 47% of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck. Remember Republicans, you voted for this. I tried to warn you."
Ethan Keller @theEthanKeller: "Wait, 47% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck? Whoever's president now must've done a really crappy job."
The President is only responsible for bad things if he's a non-left winger
Defiant L’s on X - "The FDA is pushing Biden’s cigarette ban despite public opposition. In his final week, Biden prioritizes banning nicotine over pressing issues. This is your government deciding for you, taking away your choice. Freedom is the power to choose—this is not freedom!"
Mike Lee on X - "The Biden administration’s unelected bureaucrats added nearly 1,000 pages of new law today Zero of them were passed by Congress This is wrong Only Congress is authorized by the Constitution to make federal law We must pass the REINS Act to stop this tyranny"
Nate Silver on X - "The emerging portrait from these Biden postmortems is of a president who didn't have a typical POTUS level of command due to age-related decline. And who therefore was serving as a sort of proxy president for his staff, "the groups" or whomever had his ear."
Geiger Capital on X - "Emerging? Everyone unbiased with two eyes has been saying this for 3+ years, while being attacked for it. The White House was staffed by far-left activists pushing an agenda under the cover of President Biden’s name."
Andrea E on X - "The media's postmortems are going to be brutal. History will not be kind to journalists who chose not to investigate the story of a century."
zerohedge on X - "And this is why the US is now the biggest banana republic of them all: criminal pardoned before they are even charged."
classicalliberty on X - "When Joe pardons Hunter for a period of time (2014-2024) rather than for a specific crime, it tells us that Hunter committed many crimes we don’t yet know about."
Meme - "People will see Hunter get pardoned for the last 11 years and really think it was all about tax crimes and a gun charge"
MAZE on X - "December, 2020. Jake Tapper asks President-elect Biden about the rumor that Trump may issue some preemptive pardons before leaving office. Biden: You're not going to see me do that. 🤣"
FLASHBACK: Media attacked Trump for floating preemptive pardons in 2020 before Biden did so four years later - "In the final hours of his presidency, Joe Biden shattered norms by issuing preemptive pardons, something the legacy media had demonized President Trump for after he allegedly floated them before leaving office in 2021. Biden issued two rounds of pardons on Monday in hopes of them being drowned out by the events of Trump's Inauguration Day. The first round went to Trump critics like Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, as well as January 6 Committee leaders former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wy., and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. The second round, according just minutes before Trump was sworn into office, went to members of Biden's own family including siblings James Biden, Valerie Biden Owens and Francis Biden. Those pardons came weeks after the former president's wide-ranging pardon of his son Hunter. Meanwhile, Trump himself faced scorn from the media after it was reported he was entertaining preemptive pardons following his defeat in 2020. On Dec. 1, 2020, The New York Times ran the headline "Trump Has Discussed With Advisers Pardons for His 3 Eldest Children and Giuliani," alleging that the then-president was mulling "pre-emptive pardons" to Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The report even alleged that Trump was considering issuing pardons "for crimes they have not yet committed — essentially a prospective get-out-of-jail-free card." Ultimately, Trump never issued pardons for his adult children nor Giuliani, but other news organizations followed the Times' lead. "If you had to build a 2020 time capsule in advance, this is probably something that you would have invented to put into the 2020 time capsule," MSNBC star Rachel Maddow told viewers with a grin while holding up a copy of the Times report. "The idea of a kind of prospective pardon, this sort of permanent federal Get Out of Jail Free card, that seems to be what we're talking about in the case of this, right?" Maddow's MSNBC colleague Chris Hayes said. "With Giuliani and his three eldest children, who, as far we know, have not been convicted of a crime. Maybe they've committed a lot and they don't want to face action. I don't know. It's weird. I wouldn't ask for a pardon. I don't think I deserve one because I don't think I've done anything criminal. But like, where does that come from? That concept you can just kind of wave your magic pardon wand?" CNN ran a similar report titled "The legal threats and headaches fueling pardon appeals from Trump’s family and friends," noting "Trump’s three eldest children have faced various legal entanglements" over the years, citing Don Jr. and Kushner's involvement in the Trump Tower meeting with Russians who claimed to have had dirt on Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election, which was investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Neither Don Jr. nor Kushner were ever charged with any crimes by Mueller. "In our politics lead now, a source tells CNN that President Trump, the outgoing president, is discussing preemptive pardons for people close to him. That could include his three eldest children, Don jr. Ivanka and Eric, his son in law, Jared Kushner and his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, none of whom, as of this afternoon, have been even charged with. much less convicted of any crime," CNN's Jake Tapper said on air... NBC News ran the headline "President Trump has discussed possibility of pardons for family members, sources say," telling readers "One source said the conversations in recent days were within the context of a president who feels embattled, and not because Trump believes he or any of his family members had done anything illegal."... Vanity Fair was far more presumptive, running the headline "Of Course Trump Is Going To Pardon Jared, Ivanka, and Maybe Even Don Jr." The liberal news blog Slate even speculated that Trump pardoning his children could "make him a bigger criminal target," writing "If Trump were to distribute such broadly worded pardons liberally among his circle, he would make them all subject to subpoena to testify about not only their own conduct, but his." MSNBC and CNN went wall to wall hyping the narrative, even turning to then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who was just elected senator, to bash the president. "Have you ever heard of somebody getting a preemptive pardon who was innocent of all crime, who's just an innocent person? Have you ever heard of that, just somebody getting a blanket pardon and they're an innocent person?" MSNBC's Joy Reid asked. "No," Schiff responded. "It's the president's own family. It's people that have been covering up for the President, in addition to his own family." "Would you see that… as essentially an admission of guilt?" CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked in a separate interview. "I certainly would view it that way," Schiff told Blitzer. "I think millions of Americans would view it that way. If there was no belief in criminality, why would he think a pardon was necessary?" After winning the 2020 election, Biden was asked about Trump's preemptive pardons during a sit-down with CNN's Tapper. "Well, it concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks at us as a nation of laws and justice," Biden told Tapper, later adding "you’re not going to see in our administration that kind of approach to pardons.""
Community Notes & Violations on X - "The hypocrisy is unbelievable." *Rachel Maddow in Dec 2020 vs Dec 2024*
Jeremy Boreing on X - "Blanket pardons for government officials who have not been tried robs Americans of their voice, their day in court, and their fundamental right to know what happens in their government. Did Fauci commit crimes and abuse his office? Don’t we deserve to know that? There is no justice if there is no justice possible. And it is not mercy to forgive the innocent."
Hans Mahncke on X - "The fact that Fauci's pardon specifically and explicitly addresses his Covid-related offenses, while being backdated to 2014—the year the gain-of-function ban took effect, which Fauci circumvented by outsourcing experiments to China—speaks volumes as to what this is really about."
Trump Pardons: Manafort, Stone, Charles Kushner and More Granted Clemency - The New York Times - "President Trump doled out clemency to a new group of loyalists on Wednesday, wiping away convictions and sentences as he aggressively employed his power to override courts, juries and prosecutors to apply his own standard of justice for his allies."
Biden in Final Hours Pardons Cheney, Fauci and Milley to Thwart Reprisals - The New York Times - "President Biden moved just hours before leaving office on Monday to guard some of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s most high-profile adversaries against a promised campaign of “retribution” by issuing pre-emptive pardons to head off politically driven prosecutions."
The falling trust in the media shows that we need to do more to combat misinformation and far right conspiracy theories
Ben Kew on X - "JOE BIDEN’S DISASTROUS PRESIDENCY IN 25 PHOTOS
I am not an artist, but I love the power of photos and the stories they tell. Here are 25 photos I think tell the story of the Biden years. Please share yours in the comments!
——
1. “A Socially Distant Cabinet”"
Matt Whitlock on X - "Did Joseph R Biden, the top recipient of dark money support in the history of american poltiics, just call to get rid of dark money in politics?
Grok confirms: "Joe Biden received $174 million in anonymous contributions, making him the top recipient of dark money support in American political history." And that doesn't count the other $1B+ groups like Arabella spent for Dems in 2020 alone."
Coleman Hughes on X - "I feel like it should be a bigger deal that the President of the United States tried to amend the Constitution via Twitter. And the way it was covered—“he only announced it, it’s not like he pressured the archivist”—is absurd. When you’re POTUS, an announcement IS pressure."
Biden declares the ERA the law of the land — but it likely will not matter
Phil Holloway ✈️ on X - "Speaker Johnson spills the tea Joe has been signing executive orders without knowing what he’s signing, and not remembering what he’s signed We need a thorough investigation into how this could happen It’s the biggest scandal in presidential history"
Miranda Devine: Self-deluded Biden is spending his last days as president showcasing all the same lies and cementing his tarnished 'legacy' - " Joe Biden is leaving office the way he came in — under a cloud of self-delusion and amid a rancid stench of lies. He promised to be a standard-bearer of decency, a respecter of norms and the rule of law. He presented himself as a unifier who would help the country heal after the pandemic, a man of integrity and impeccable character, unlike his wretched predecessor. Yet behind closed doors, in the devious recesses of his soul, Joe plotted and planned just two things: self-aggrandizement and vengeance. Joe paid lip service to a grab bag of virtuous goals but, really, he was all about himself... Now he leaves office as the most unpopular president in history other than Richard Nixon, according to a Gallup poll... The most divisive president in recent memory claimed he had “kept my commitment to be president for all Americans.” The president whose administration and deep-state protectors bullied social media companies into censoring American speech, including in the New York Post, claimed to champion a “free and independent press.” The congenital liar whose career is marked by plagiarism, mendacity and corruption warned of a future in which “the truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.” The man whose family raked in millions from selling his influence to shady oligarchs and Chinese Communist Party entities, who just gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to George Soros, railed against “dark money.”... He also released a farewell letter Wednesday, laughably claiming he has left the country “stronger, more prosperous and more secure.” Nothing could be further from the truth. On his watch, America is embroiled in two proxy wars, tens of millions of unvetted illegal immigrants are roaming the country, we just suffered the second-worst terrorist attack since 9/11, and inflation has ravaged the middle class. The president who weaponized the Justice Department against his political enemies and regularly defamed Donald Trump and his supporters as “fascists” also claimed he was a unifier: “We came together as Americans, and … we emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure.”... Hunter Biden protector-turned-prosecutor David Weiss’ flimsy, 27-page report whitewashed his sham investigation of the first son in Delaware, which would have resulted in zero charges if IRS investigators Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler hadn’t blown the whistle on DOJ obstruction. But the American people saw the lawfare and corruption for what it was and rejected Joe Biden at the ballot box. Of course, Biden doesn’t see the election results as a rejection of him. He claimed last week he would have won the election if his party hadn’t pushed him aside. Vainglorious and small until the bitter end, Biden called a press conference Wednesday to seize personal credit for the hostage deal in Israel, without a mention of Trump, despite Israeli and Arab officials alike crediting the president-elect with the breakthrough. “If they [the hostages] are not back by the time I get into office, all hell is gonna break out,” Trump had warned Hamas and Iran last month, and sure enough, the Times of Israel reports that Trump hostage negotiator Steve Witkoff has done “more to sway [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu than outgoing President Joe Biden did in a year.” But when a reporter asked Biden how much credit Trump deserves for the deal, he replied: “Well, this is the exact framework that I proposed back in May — exact.” So why weren’t the hostages released back then?... Yes, legacy is terribly important to Joe and Jill. It consumes the couple. It is a “family project,” as the Washington Post characterized Jill’s attitude in a schmaltzy interview published Wednesday in which she expressed bitterness about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s role in knifing Joe."
Meme - BrooklynDad Defiant! @mmpadellan: "If Presidents Obama or Biden were accepting bribes from the highest bidder for dinner with them, Republicans would've already drafted impeachment papers. Change my mind."
CNN: "President Joe Biden and his family were given tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from foreign leaders in 2023, according to an annual accounting published by the State Department, with first lady Jill Biden receiving the single most expensive present."
Charlie Kirk on X - "Josh Hawley says a Secret Service whistleblower told him Biden would get lost in his own closet in the mornings: "The guy, literally stumbling around in the White House residence, couldn't find his way out of his own closet." Jill knew. Who else knew?"
Right Angle News Network on X - "BREAKING - Biden White House emails reveal FEMA officials privately warned of a cancer cluster in East Palestine after the 2023 toxic train derailment, but the warning was quickly buried as the administration pushed the narrative that the soil and air were safe."
Right Angle News Network on X - "BREAKING - Staffers for Joe Biden were paid hefty bonuses to stay silent about his cognitive decline, with one of Biden’s top aides, Mike Donilon, admitting that had Biden won a second term, he would have received $4 million."
Jim Ferguson on X - "BREAKING:🚨 AUTO-PEN SCANDAL ERUPTS Senior Biden insiders are pleading the Fifth. Aides admit autopen signed proclamations, EOs, even clemency—while the public was told “all is normal.” The WH doctor won’t answer. Ex-staffers duck basic questions. Reports say Hunter was effectively calling shots. T his isn’t bad optics. It’s a governance crisis: Who authorized mechanized signatures on acts of state? When did staff, family, or handlers substitute for the President? What else was automated—briefings, approvals, national security calls? Immediate actions: Freeze & forensically audit every autopen-signed order, proclamation, pardon. Subpoena WH Counsel, senior staff, medical team—under oath. Preserve all records: routing slips, signature logs, drafts, device access. Public timeline of presidential decision-making—day by day. If signatures were automated, was consent? America deserves the truth—now. @realDonaldTrump"
🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 on X - "The issue with Biden's pardons isn’t necessarily autopen. Did Biden authorize these pardons or not? Staff cannot forge the president’s power. A President cannot autopen pardons and executive orders in the dark. If Biden did not authorize these pardons, then they are invalid. Test the pardon in court and force the truth."
Josh Hawley on X - "Joe Biden’s America wasn’t run by We the People. It was run by a cabal of donors and insiders like Nancy Pelosi Somebody made a lot of money off the Biden autopen. The DOJ should go after the money big time"
Right Angle News Network on X - "BREAKING - It’s been revealed that by day five of Joe Biden’s presidency, the autopen had already begun being used, and by 2022 it was almost exclusively used for all pardons and executive actions, with zero record of Biden’s personal approval found."
Eric Daugherty on X - "🚨 BREAKING: Whoopi Goldberg is being called out for making the most IRONIC statement possible On the Biden autopen: "Stop investigating a man who is no longer in office!!" They want you to forget the last 4 years, and believe you were born yesterday."
Biden's autopen signatures were 'illegitimate', Congressional committee finds - "Kevin O’Connor, the former president’s doctor who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against testifying, is heavily criticised throughout the document. Republicans also singled out Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini, senior aides of Mr Biden who also pleaded the Fifth during proceedings."
Armand Domalewski on X - "can you IMAGINE if Joe Biden posted a video of himself literally shitting on Americans in red states?"
EducatëdHillbilly™ on X - "Joe Biden literally said red states were going to get a winter of death that they deserved."
DNI Tulsi Gabbard on X - "As Director of National Intelligence, I promised to root out and expose the politicization of intelligence. I recently declassified two reports that show how the Biden administration labeled Americans who disagreed with their policies as potential “domestic violent extremists,” which was often followed by FBI investigations, surveillance, and government-directed social media censorship. This is a classic ploy to politicize intelligence and the national security state against the American people, undermining our Constitutionally-guaranteed rights and freedoms."
How presidents compare on pardons, commutations, other forms of clemency - "Overall, Biden granted 4,245 acts of clemency during his four-year tenure in the White House. That far exceeds the total of any other president since the beginning of the 20th century, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, who granted 3,796 such acts during his 12 years in office. It is also far ahead of the current total of President Donald Trump... Biden granted 29% of the clemency requests he received. That was the highest percentage of any president since Richard Nixon, who granted 36% of the petitions he received... the nature of some of Biden’s pardons is historically unique. Biden issued “preemptive pardons” to several prominent people who had not been convicted of, charged with or even investigated for any crimes... Biden also saved nearly all of his clemency acts until the final weeks of his presidency. While every president since Ford has issued pardons or commutations in his last days in office, Biden granted 96% of his acts of clemency in his final fiscal year – the period between Oct. 1, 2024, and his departure from the White House on Jan. 20. On Jan. 17 alone, he granted 2,490 commutations, more in a single day than any prior chief executive had granted over their entire presidency... In his first term, Trump drew criticism for granting clemency to many people who had a “personal or political connection to the president,” and he often circumvented the formal process for considering clemency requests, according to analyses by the Lawfare blog. (Biden also circumvented this process at times, including when he pardoned his son Hunter.) Obama’s frequent use of commutations, particularly for prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes, prompted objections from Republicans at the time. Critics said it infringed on the “lawmaking authority” of the legislative branch. Bill Clinton drew bipartisan condemnation for pardoning a fugitive commodities trader, Marc Rich, on his last day in office in 2001. And Clinton, like Biden, also pardoned a family member. On the same day he pardoned Rich, he pardoned his half-brother Roger Clinton, who had been convicted of selling cocaine. Perhaps the most famous act of clemency in U.S. history was a preemptive pardon for a former president himself. On Sept. 8, 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Ford pardoned Nixon for any federal crimes he “committed or may have committed,” even though Nixon hadn’t been charged with a crime at the time."