On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey recommended that President Joe Biden issue preemptive pardons to individuals President-elect Donald Trump considers his political enemies.
Trump has threatened to prosecute Democratic figures such as Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He’s also vowed to prosecute former military and law enforcement officials who have challenged his actions.
“I think that without question, Trump is going to try to act in a dictatorial way, in a fascistic way, in a revengeful [way his] first year … towards individuals who he believes harmed him,” Markey said Tuesday on Boston Public Radio.
Markey compared the situation to the 1974 pardon issued by then-President Gerald Ford to former President Richard Nixon, who resigned amid the Watergate scandal. Ford’s pardon was issued before any prosecution of Nixon had taken place.
Markey suggested that Biden could find himself in a similar position.
“If it’s clear by January 19th that [revenge] is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people, because that’s really what our country is going to need next year,” he said.
Markey emphasized the healing potential of a presidential pardon.
“[Nixon’s pardon] allowed our country just to close that chapter and to move on to a new era.”
He added, “I think that Joe Biden could very well be in the same situation, and people will look back and say, ‘That’s what our country wants.’”
