More than half of voters say Biden was wrong to pardon son Hunter, and that the scandal is just as damaging as Watergate

More than half of voters believe President Joe Biden was wrong to pardon his son Hunter. 

And our exclusive new poll reveals that Americans believe his actions, after months of promises that he would not make a special case out of his son, are as damaging to trust in politics as some of the worst scandals of recent decades, such as Watergate, the Iran-Contra controversy, or Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.

The result is that Biden’s historically low approval rating drops another four points, to 37 percent, according to the J.L. Partners poll of 804 registered voters.

The 82-year-old lame duck president announced on Sunday evening that he had signed a pardon for Hunter, saying that his gun and federal tax convictions were politically motivated.

The reaction was swift and damning. Allies in the Democratic Party were among those who warned that it set a dangerous precedent for future presidents.

Our poll, which launched on Sunday evening, found that 52 percent of respondents concluded Biden was wrong to pardon his son, compared with only 29 percent who said he was right.

Republicans were overwhelming in their disapproval:L 79 percent to 13 percent. 

But even Democrats struggled to defend his actions. Less than half (47 percent) said he had done the right thing.q

President Joe Biden spent Thanksgiving with his son Hunter before announcing his decision on Sunday evening, shortly before flying to Angola

In all, some 54 percent said it set a bad precedent. Just 10 percent said set a good precedent. 

‘This poll shows that in pardoning his son Joe Biden has driven a stake through his own reputation,’ said James Johnson, cofounder of J.L. Partners.

‘By an overwhelming margin, voters think that it was the wrong thing to do. 

‘Nor can Democrat voters bring themselves to defend it.

‘As Biden leaves office, his already negative approval ratings have taken a further hit. He will bow out as a tarnished political figure—seen as old, ineffective, and now having made a decision that voters believe will cripple Americans’ trust in democracy.’

Half of voters said the pardon was just as damaging (21 percent) or more damaging (29 percent) to public trust as Clinton’s affair with a White House intern. The then president was impeached after being accused of giving misleading testimony when he denied having ‘sexual relations’ with Lewinsky.

And the pardon is even up there with some of the most destructive scandals in recent political history.

Respondents (50 percent) said it was as damaging as Watergate, which triggered the downfall of President Richard Nixon, and as bad as (54 percent) the Iran-Contra affair, when it emerged that senior officials in the Reagan administration secretly facilitated arms sales to Tehran as part of a plan to use the proceeds to back rebels in Nicaragua.

Hunter Biden’s troubles stem from his years of addition

A photograph showing former White House intern Monica Lewinsky meeting President Bill Clinton at a White House function submitted as evidence in documents by the Starr investigation and released by the House Judiciary committee September 21, 1998

Richard Nixon bids farewell to White House staff in 1974. A break-in at the Watergate hotel by Republican operatives triggered a cascade of events that eventually led to his resignation

When voters were asked how well the president was performing last week, some 41 percent said they approved of his performance. Some 47 percent said the disapproved. 

When they were asked in the hours after the performance, 37 percent said they approved (down four) and 48 percent said the disapproved, sending his rating further underwater.

The pardon is the latest twist in a legal saga that has plagued the president’s son since his chaotic days addicted to drugs.

In September, he pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in Los Angeles and was due to be sentenced on Dec. 16.

And a Delaware jury found him guilty in June of making false statements when he bought a gun in 2018. He was also due to be sentenced for those charges later this month.  

Biden and his team repeatedly and emphatically ruled out any suggestion that the president would use his pardon powers to help his son.

In June, the president was asked about the gun case and said: ‘I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.’

A month later, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: ‘It’s still a no. It will be a no. It is a no. And I don’t have anything else to add. 

‘Will he pardon his son? No.’

Biden released a statement on Sunday evening announcing the pardon of his son Hunter

On Sunday night, just before Biden was due to leave the country, that no became a yes.

‘Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further,’ said Biden, as he announced the pardon.

Reaction was swift and damning.

Political opponents delighted in accusing him of a humiliating U-turn.

President-elect Donald Trump called the pardon ‘an abuse and miscarriage of justice!’

And allies expressed frustration, warning that it would now be harder to take on Trump and his claims that he was the victim of a weaponized legal system.  

‘This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later Presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation,’ Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis wrote in a post on X.