Geraldo Says It’s ‘The Right Thing’ for Trump To Pardon Most J6ers: Were Punished for ‘Their Faith in Donald J. Trump’
NewsNation correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera called on President-elect Donald Trump to pardon those who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, arguing it would be “the right thing” to do after “he wrecked their lives” by “inciting” them.
During an appearance on NewsNation’s Cuomo, Monday, Rivera said:
Hopefully, the president understands that what he did on election day in 2020 was something that can never again be repeated. That it was a horrible thing that he did. He unleashed that force, he incited those people, he led the way to the Capitol in words, if not in deeds. He wrecked the lives of the people who were arrested, over 1,500 of them, half of whom had major sentences. He ruined people’s lives. He did a lot of awful things and I hope that in the quiet of the night, Donald Trump, who I did not vote for – I voted for Kamala Harris, proudly – that he understands that this can never again be allowed to happen.
We can never have the Capitol of the United States desecrated. However, having said all that, I believe that the president does the right thing by pardoning these people. I repeat, I think that these folks have suffered enough. Their lives have been completely disrupted. You know, I’m not talking about the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers of the professional agitators and terrorists, but I’m talking about the average schmo who listened to President Trump and as a result put his entire life in jeopardy.
He concluded, “These folks, all of them, were punished because of their adherence, their love for, their belief in, their faith in Donald J. Trump. They believed him when he said that the election was stolen.”
Democratic strategist James Carville replied, “I agree with most everything that Geraldo said,” before proposing that those who were convicted for taking part in the Capitol riots should have their sentences commuted on a “case-by-case basis.”
More than 1,200 people were charged with taking part in the Capitol riots, including 452 who were charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees,” and 123 who were charged with “using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.”
Watch above via NewsNation.
