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Jedi Guy

(3,400 posts)
6. The Constitution grants the power to pardon but doesn't limit that power.
Fri Dec 26, 2025, 11:01 AM
6 hrs ago

The only real limit is that the President can only issue pardons for federal crimes. There's nothing saying he can't pardon himself, either, though that would likely be challenged.

His status as a convicted felon is irrelevant. It didn't bar him from running for the office or holding it so it doesn't stop him from exercising any of the powers of the Presidency. In theory, he could have run for office from a prison cell. The only thing that could have barred him from running is if he'd been convicted after being impeached.

The unfortunate reality is that the Framers never imagined someone like Trump running for President, let alone actually holding the office. I think they worked on the assumption that anyone holding the office would be an honorable person rather than an amoral glob of Cheetoh dust roughly shaped to look like a person.

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