Imagine sitting in a prison cell after getting railroaded by Biden’s DOJ for waving a flag at the Capitol, and then flipping on the news to see President Trump pardoning Henry Cuellar—a Democrat congressman who voted to impeach him. Not exactly the homecoming parade the MAGA base had in mind.
Cuellar, for those blissfully unaware, wasn’t just your typical swamp creature. He was slapped with 12 federal charges—bribery, conspiracy, money laundering, and acting as a foreign agent. Not exactly jaywalking. The DOJ alleged he pocketed $600,000 from an Azerbaijani oil company and a Mexican bank. But thanks to Trump’s pardon, Cuellar now has a “clean slate,” as he put it, and the “noise is gone.” That noise being, you know, the entire justice system.
This isn’t just raising eyebrows. It’s raising blood pressure among Trump’s most loyal supporters. MAGA influencers lit up X like a Christmas tree in a lightning storm. “He’s a crook. Big mistake,” said one. “Completely disgusting,” added Mike Cernovich, a longtime Trump ally. Others flat-out called it a betrayal. And let’s be honest—they’re not wrong.
Then came the pardon of David Gentile, a billionaire fraudster who scammed investors out of $1.6 billion. He served a grand total of 12 days in prison—less time than it takes to return a pair of shoes on Amazon. And while the White House tried to spin it as a response to Biden’s weaponized DOJ, the optics were brutal. “Totally corrupt scammers are getting cases dismissed,” Cernovich added. “It’s totally out of control.”
Completely disgusting. https://t.co/TDmAIi3z05
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 3, 2025
The Founders gave the president the power to pardon for a reason. Alexander Hamilton, in Federalist 74, envisioned it as a tool for ending rebellions or offering mercy in extreme cases. Washington used it to cool tensions after the Whiskey Rebellion. Lincoln used it to balance justice with mercy during the Civil War.
But our modern-day political class—especially the left—has turned it into a get-out-of-jail-free card for cronies and radicals. Bill Clinton practically sold pardons, including to fugitive financier Marc Rich. Obama pardoned terrorists and left-wing extremists. Biden? He used autopen to mass-produce pardons for his family and political allies, some of which we didn’t even learn about until after Trump’s inauguration.
Now, Trump is walking dangerously close to that same line. Pardoning political enemies as some 4D chess move might work in a Marvel movie, but in the real world, it risks alienating the movement that put him back in power. The MAGA base didn’t sign up for more Beltway backroom deals.
The truth is, the pardon power has become a relic of royal authority—unchecked, unaccountable, and ripe for abuse. Once a pardon is signed, not even Congress or the courts can overturn it. You could pardon a terrorist, a traitor, or a guy who ran a Ponzi scheme on grandma’s retirement savings—and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. That’s not justice. That’s monarchy.
It’s time to face the uncomfortable truth: the Constitution needs an update. Not a rewrite—but a repair. A constitutional amendment to reform or even abolish the federal pardon power would be a bold but necessary move. Done right, it could unite Americans across the aisle who are sick of elites protecting their own. Let’s make the pardon process transparent, accountable, and—here’s a wild idea—actually just.
Trump has a chance to lead that charge. But if he keeps handing out golden tickets to swamp creatures, don’t be surprised if the base starts asking whether the emperor is wearing any clothes.
And if the next pardon is Hunter Biden, what’s the point of even having elections?