In a post on his Truth Social social media account that comes as a welcome sign to the many members of the MAGA coalition who are worried about the fate of those who were arrested and face the prospect of significant jail time over their involvement in the January 6 protest, collectively called the J6ers, President-elect Donald Trump has indicated that he will pardon them.
His move comes in the wake of President Joe Biden’s decision to give his son Hunter a sweeping pardon for all federal crimes he has committed in the past ten years, a move that many on the right see as overbroad and utterly irresponsible, particularly considering that Biden promised not to pardon Hunter.
The sweeping pardon provides first that it is “full and unconditional,” stating, “Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN A Full and Unconditional Pardon”
Continuing, it describes the sweeping nature of the pardon, saying, “For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.”
President-elect Trump posted about the matter on Truth Social shortly after the news broke, saying that the J6ers, whom he referred to as “the J-6 Hostages,” ought to be released. As he put it: “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!”
This isn’t the first time Trump has used the term or made the call to pardon them. Shortly before the 2024 Republican primary, for example, then-former President Trump called on President Joe Biden “to release the J6 hostages.” Similarly, during a January 6, 2024 rally, Trump said, “They’ve suffered enough. They have to release them. I call them hostages … Release the J-6 hostages, Joe. Release them, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe.”
He made the same call using the same terminology after winning the primary. Speaking at a June 28 rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, for example, he said, “The Supreme Court ruled that Biden’s Department of Justice has wrongly prosecuted hundreds of Americans for peacefully protesting on Jan. 6.”
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He continued, contrasting the fate of the J6ers with that of the Antifa rioters, saying, “Those people have been treated so people have been treated so badly, especially when you compare them with people that ripped apart and killed people in Portland and in Seattle and in other places. They have been treated so badly.” He added, “So we’re asking, based on the decision, they should immediately be released. Immediately release the J6 hostages.”
Watch former President Trump speak about the J6 “hostages” here: