Vice President-elect JD Vance said people who “committed violence” on Jan. 6, 2021, “obviously” shouldn’t be pardoned by President-elect Trump.
“I think it’s very simple, look, if you protested peacefully on Jan. 6, and you had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Vance said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.”
“If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned,” he continued. “And there’s a little bit of a gray area there.”
Vance said he and Trump are “very much committed” to the equal administration of law. He added that they believe there were people who were “prosecuted unfairly.”
“We need to rectify that,” Vance said.
Trump has long promised to grant clemency to those who stormed the Capitol as Congress certified President Biden’s 2020 election victory.
This year marked the fourth anniversary of rioters storming the Capitol after leaving Trump’s rally at the Ellipse in Washington.
Trump and Vance’s idea to pardon Jan. 6 defendants has become a controversial one, with members of Congress speaking out around the anniversary.
Vance also hinted at Trump’s other first-day plans back in the White House, including carrying out his mass deportation plans.
