Tom Nichols, a professor emeritus of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, sharply criticized President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, calling it a “tremendous strategic blunder” that will haunt Democrats as they face another Trump administration.
On Sunday, President Biden issued a full and unconditional pardon to Hunter Biden, covering any crimes he may have committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024. The pardon specifically addressed Hunter’s federal gun charge and his tax evasion cases. He had been convicted of three felony charges related to purchasing a gun in 2018 while struggling with drug addiction, as well as lying about the purchase on his application.
Additionally, Hunter pleaded guilty to nine tax evasion charges in September. In a statement, President Biden explained that the pardon was necessary after a “carefully negotiated plea deal agreed to by the Department of Justice unraveled in the courtroom,” with political opponents in Congress pushing to apply pressure to the process.
However, Nichols, in his Monday night piece for The Atlantic, argued that the decision to pardon was a serious misstep. “This was not just a terrible idea,” Nichols wrote. “It was a tremendous strategic blunder, one that will haunt Democrats as they head into the first years of another Trump administration.”
Nichols pointed out the looming reality of President-elect Donald Trump’s potential pardons once he regains the Oval Office, particularly for those involved in the January 6th insurrection. “Nothing will stop Trump from doing such things, nor will he pay any political price for such future pardons,” Nichols noted. “All he ever cared about was winning the White House to stay out of jail, and he’s accomplished that mission.”
Nichols further argued that Republicans would have been forced to answer for Trump’s controversial pardons without Biden’s decision to issue his own. “Joe Biden has now provided every Republican—and especially those running for Congress in 2026—with a ready-made heat shield against any criticism about Trump’s pardons, past or present.”
Nichols suggested that Biden’s actions, while aimed at protecting his son, might have also hurt Democrats in the long run, potentially undermining their resolve to defend the rule of law. “He may have saved his son and stuck it to everyone else, but in the process, he’s damaged the broader Democratic cause,” Nichols warned.