GOP Senators are opposing Former President Trump’s promise for pardons to be granted for those rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to an article on the Hill, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s closest allies, also said that a pardon would be “a bad idea.” As he noted, pardons are for those who recognize their wrongdoings and who go through rehabilitation. They should not be used for any purpose other than that.
Graham is not the only Republican senator to criticize Trump over his promise to pardon the Jan. 6 protesters.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), another one of Trump’s allies, said that he did not think potential presidential candidates should be using pardons as promises as that was wrong on both a moral and ethical level.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said that he would not show any support for granting pardons to those who committed crimes on Jan. 6. He also noted that if Trump was elected to the office again he would constitutionally be able to follow through with that promise, but he did not think it right as the insurrectionists ought to be punished. Rounds who was present during the riot said that he witnessed true violence, with people being injured and killed and he wouldn’t have mercy for those who committed these acts.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) also joined in saying those who were a part of the Jan. 6 attack need to face consequences.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted in favor of impeaching Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection said that to pardon those who invaded the Capitol and tried to stop the election results from being enacted would be wrong.
