President Donald Trump’s refrain that he hasn’t “thought about” pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell sounds all too familiar, according to one MSNBC host.
Antonia Hylton, co-host of “The Weekend: Primetime,” unpacked Trump’s claims on Saturday with a supercut of previous times he used that phrase about people who later received pardons. Some notable examples include his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort.
On July 25, Trump deflected questions about whether he would offer a pardon to Maxwell.
“It’s something I haven’t thought about. I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about,” Trump told reporters before traveling to Scotland.
Hylton reminded her audience that Trump had made similar comments before.
“Just because Trump says he’s not sure or hasn’t thought about making a specific pardon, doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen,” Hylton said.
Hylton then played a supercut of Trump making similar statements about people such as Cohen, Manafort, his former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, and campaign advisor Roger Stone.
Trump has also repeatedly used the president’s pardon powers to reward his supporters. For instance, he pardoned more than 1,500 people convicted of crimes related to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, claiming they had been politically prosecuted. He has also pardoned anti-abortion activists, politicians who were charged with corruption, and people convicted of financial crimes.