Democratic strategist David Axelrod said he thinks the biggest lesson President Trump has learned over the past four years is that he can “get away with anything.”
“I think the lesson he's learned over the last four years is that he can get away with anything,” Axelrod said on CNN on Tuesday. “And I think he is, in a sense, a bold person to grant this pardon.”
One of Trump's first acts upon returning to office was to pardon nearly all of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
President Trump's pardon comes after his supporters overran Capitol Police and entered the building on January 6, forcing the evacuation of lawmakers certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. given to those who did not act.
But the pardons also target numerous individuals who have committed acts of violence against police, a move that has drawn opposition from some Republican lawmakers.
Axelrod argued that the litmus test for Trump is whether people like him, and that he sees the January 6 defendants as falling into that group.
“Remember, on the day of the riot, he released a video to the protesters saying, 'We love you, you're so special.'” I know pain. I know you are hurting. There was an election stolen from us. We all know it was a landslide election,” Axelrod said.
“So all this comes from original sin, which he is trying to erase,” he continued. “And at this point he said, 'Look, I've been re-elected, I've escaped four indictments, and all I have to do is put my foot on the pedal. And these people have supported me. is.””
President Trump dismissed suggestions that he does not support law enforcement, despite pardoning those who attacked police officers at the Capitol.
“These people have already been in prison for years, and they've done bad things. It's a disgusting prison. It's terrible. It's inhumane,” Trump said on Tuesday.
