It was yet another dramatic week in the Trump administration, highlighted by the president’s decision to declare pardons issued by his predecessor, “void, vacant and of no future force of effect.”
Before leaving office, former president Joe Biden issued pardons to members of the Jan. 6 committee. President Donald Trump, however, contends since Biden’s signature was automatically applied, the documents are meaningless.
“Joe Biden did not sign them, but more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Biden has not responded to Trump’s comments. The play to void Biden’s pardons is a continuance of Trump’s retribution tour. On March 14, he took his grievances into the Department of Justice, where he went off script to complain about thwarted charges brought against him.
In an hour-long speech, touted as a preview of the plan to combat fentanyl trafficking, Trump couldn’t resist going after adversaries, even saying the programming at cable television networks CNN and MSNBC is “illegal.”
Elsewhere, in a setback, the administration withdrew its pick to head the Centers for Disease Control. Dave Weldon, a former U.S. Congressman from Florida, was rejected after his controversial views about vaccines were brought to light.
“It’s dangerous to put someone in charge at CDC who believes the lie that our rigorously tested childhood vaccine schedule is somehow exposing kids to toxic levels of mercury or causing autism,” said Sen. Patti Murray of Washington.