Hunter Biden spoke publicly for the first time Monday about receiving a presidential pardon from his father, acknowledging the clemency represented a form of “privilege” while directing sharp criticism toward President Donald Trump.
In an interview published on journalist Tommy Christopher’s Substack, the younger Biden discussed the circumstances surrounding his December 2024 pardon.
He told Christopher that Trump’s electoral victory “changed everything” regarding his legal situation.
Biden indicated he believed he would have prevailed on appeal “in a normal circumstance.”
He, however, expressed gratitude for the pardon, stating he was “incredibly grateful” for the clemency.
“I realize how privileged I am,” Biden said during the interview.
He emphasized his awareness of the special treatment he received through his father’s action.
The pardon came after Hunter Biden faced legal troubles on multiple fronts.
He had been convicted on both tax-related charges and federal gun charges.
The Daily Caller outlined that according to the Justice Department’s clemency warrant, President Joe Biden’s pardon, issued December 1, 2024, eliminated Hunter’s tax and gun convictions entirely.
The pardon also provided broad coverage for any potential offenses committed between January 1, 2014, and the date of clemency.
Hunter Biden stated his father would not have granted the pardon had Trump not won the presidency.
“My dad would not have pardoned me if President Trump had not won,” he said in the interview.
He accused President Trump of conducting a “revenge tour” and having an “absolute obsession with my dad.”
Biden framed these claims as central to understanding why the pardon became necessary.
Biden portrayed himself as someone who would have become a political target without the pardon protection.
He suggested that without clemency, he would have been vulnerable to intimidation tactics.
“I think [it] would have made me … the easiest target … to intimidate and … impact my entire family into … silence in a way that … is not as easy for him to do [with] me being pardoned,” he stated.
The interview included Biden taking aim at Trump’s recent clemency decisions.
He specifically referenced former New York congressman George Santos, whose federal sentence Trump commuted on Friday.
Santos had been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison.
Trump’s decision to commute that sentence drew immediate criticism from various quarters, particularly from critics in New York.
Biden used the Santos commutation as a point of comparison while discussing his own pardon.
He suggested a contrast between the two clemency actions, though he focused primarily on defending his father’s decision.
“I don’t think that I need to make much of a detailed argument for why it was the right thing to do, at least from my dad, from his perspective,” Biden said regarding his own pardon.
Despite defending the pardon he received, Biden continued to focus attention on Trump’s actions.
He predicted that Trump’s activities would continue beyond recent clemency decisions.
“He’s not … finished with his revenge tour,” Biden warned in the interview, suggesting more actions were forthcoming from the Trump administration.
