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MaddowBlogTrump stumbles into an important contradiction on pardon for drug trafficker
The president said he examined Juan Orlando Hernández’s case. Eight days later, he said the opposite. Both can’t be true.
Link to tweet
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-stumbles-into-an-important-contradiction-on-pardon-for-drug-trafficker
Trump, however, freed him anyway. Politico’s Dasha Burns asked him about it during a lengthy White House interview this week.
“Well, I don’t know him,” the president said, referring to Hernández. “And I know very little about him other than people said it was like an Obama/Biden-type set-up, where he was set up.”
...Last week, when asked about the Hernández pardon during a Q&A on Air Force One, Trump, again referencing unspecified people, declared, “They said it was a Biden administration set-up. And I looked at the facts, and I agreed with them.”
The contradiction is glaring: On Nov. 30, the president said he had examined the case and concluded the notorious drug trafficker deserved clemency. Then, eight days later, asked about the same case, Trump said he was clueless and insisted he knew “very little” about it.
It can be one or the other, but it can’t be both.
As for Hernández’s fate, shortly after the former president walked out of a high-security American prison thanks to Trump’s pardon, Honduras’ attorney general urged Interpol to execute an arrest warrant for Hernández, which was originally issued in late 2023 for fraud and money laundering. Watch this space.
POLITICO: You pardoned the former president of Honduras even though he was convicted in a massive intl drug trafficking scheme. How is that 0 tolerance on drug trafficking?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-12-09T17:42:01.613Z
TRUMP: Well I don't know him and I know very little about him other than people said it was like an Obama-Biden type set up
“Well, I don’t know him,” the president said, referring to Hernández. “And I know very little about him other than people said it was like an Obama/Biden-type set-up, where he was set up.”
...Last week, when asked about the Hernández pardon during a Q&A on Air Force One, Trump, again referencing unspecified people, declared, “They said it was a Biden administration set-up. And I looked at the facts, and I agreed with them.”
The contradiction is glaring: On Nov. 30, the president said he had examined the case and concluded the notorious drug trafficker deserved clemency. Then, eight days later, asked about the same case, Trump said he was clueless and insisted he knew “very little” about it.
It can be one or the other, but it can’t be both.
As for Hernández’s fate, shortly after the former president walked out of a high-security American prison thanks to Trump’s pardon, Honduras’ attorney general urged Interpol to execute an arrest warrant for Hernández, which was originally issued in late 2023 for fraud and money laundering. Watch this space.