President Donald Trump criticized President Joe Biden for granting pardons to his family members while Trump was giving a speech at the Capital One Arena. Trump expressed his surprise and incredulity at the timing of the pardons, saying it was done during his own speech. He claimed that his aides had urged him to tone down his inaugural address and avoid criticizing Biden’s pardon decisions, including planned pardons for those involved in the January 6th insurrection.
However, Trump later appeared to contradict his earlier statement, claiming he only learned about Biden’s pardons after finishing his speech. He remarked, “Can you believe it? He pardoned—do you know why he did it while I was speaking? So I couldn’t address it.” Trump stated he expressed a desire to return to the stage and discuss the pardons, but ultimately suggested that it wouldn’t be appropriate, saying, “That wouldn’t be very elegant.” He assured supporters that there would be ample opportunity to address the issue in the future.