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We were reminded last week that Donald Trump may want to pardon everyone convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection that sought to keep him in power despite his losing the 2020 election. While campaigning in New Hampshire, the 2024 Republican hopeful told a woman convicted of a misdemeanor for resisting police efforts to clear the Capitol grounds: “You guys are gonna be OK.”
And now, Thursday’s seditious conspiracy convictions for several Proud Boys members raises the question: Are they among the “guys” Trump would pardon if he gets another term?
Facing decades in prison for attempting to violently overthrow the election in Trump’s favor, they certainly have a case to make for their leader’s loyalty. No doubt, Trump would be tempted to deliver them clemency, if only to provoke the ire of their common enemies. In his first term, Trump doled out pardons and commutations to a murderers’ row of assorted cronies and military members accused of war crimes.
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To be sure, Proud Boys pardons would be legal — though whether they’d also undermine the rule of law is another question. Such a searching philosophical inquiry won’t likely be on Trump’s mind if he’s in the position of considering these pardons.
More likely, the Trumpian calculus would be whether he wants to repay a political debt.
Banking on Trump to pay up, however, is a dangerous game to play, so his soldiers may have reason to fear they’ll be left on the Jan. 6 battlefield.