Why Biden Should Pardon Trump.

Yes, you read that right.

I’m hardly the first person to make this suggestion. There’s a range of reasons out there. Any attempt to prosecute Trump would inevitably result in a “political circus” that would obstruct Biden’s attempts to govern. Pardoning Trump would, hopefully, break the cycle of political retribution, and allow the country to move forward, a la President Ford pardoning Nixon. If we prosecute Trump and are unable to make a conviction stick, it serves as a vindication for his followers. Conversely, if we are able to convict Trump, he becomes a martyr. You can find more on this here, here, and here.

I agree with all these points, but to me, they do not represent the most important reason for Biden to pardon Trump. The most important one for me is that I do not want to see or hear from Trump anymore.

Used to be, after an election was over, that coverage of the president was much calmer, much less frequent, much less shouting in your face. We could have a break from election season. Even if it was only a couple of years, it made the intensity and virulence of election coverage more tolerable. But beginning around 2015, all that changed.

Over the last five years, every time Trump farted, the media fell all over themselves to report on which way he leaned (and to point out that no other president (or presidential candidate) ever leaned quite that way to pass some gas!) We have had two congressional investigations, neither of which produced satisfying outcomes, but both of which took up our collective consciousness for months. We have had our hackles forcibly raised at every single tweet of his, many of which were simply the childish taunts of a childish man which we would have done better to ignore. We have had, sometimes bitter, sometimes relationship-ending fights with friends and strangers alike over him. Many of us have simply checked out of current events entirely because we simply can’t handle the drama anymore.

Are there things Trump has done that have required we sound the alarm, or at least talk about it? Absolutely. Many. Immigrant children mercilessly ripped away from their parents and kept in cages. Taunting the leader of North Korea. Rolling back environmental protections and industry regulations. Diminishing the severity of the pandemic. I could go on, certainly. But the intensity of media coverage of Trump remained the same whether they were addressing a major event or a flippant comment.

Are there things Trump has done while president that are worthy of prosecution? I’m no legal scholar, but I’d guess probably. But while it might be cathartic for us to attempt to hold him accountable from a legal standpoint, it is likely this attempt will backfire spectacularly.

Trump has reveled in every moment of our attention. He feeds on it. He has also used it to his advantage. He has used it to position himself as an outsider, a maverick, the only one with the power to clean up Washington. Of course the media attacks him; he does things differently. The media doesn’t like him and Washington doesn’t like him, because he doesn’t work for them, he works for “us”. Disagree with this narrative all you like (I know I certainly do), but his people are fervent believers. And if we allow it, he will use our continued focus on him over the next few years to keep his candidacy alive for 2024.

The bottom line is that the attention from a loud and noisy prosecution will continue to bolster Trump and his supporters. It will give him the momentum he needs to keep his cause alive. As mentioned by others smarter than I am, it’s a win-win situation for him. If he loses, he becomes a martyr to his people, deepening the already cavernous political divide in our country. If he beats the rap (far more likely, in my opinion), he’ll take his victory lap all the way back into the oval office in 2024.

I am tired of this man. I don’t want to hear or think about him anymore, and I certainly don’t want to have to deal with him running for president again in 2024, or god forbid, winning. A presidential pardon from Biden might just be only the way to suck some of the wind out of Trump’s sails. Having been pardoned, there’s no one and nothing left for him to fight against, and nothing left for the media to focus on. After a presidential pardon, whenever Trump farts, we will no longer have to hear about it. He will finally be farting alone.