Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Monday that he expects President-elect Donald Trump to "legitimately" exercise his pardon authority on the peaceful protesters from the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on Capitol Hill who were lumped in with violent offenders and "persecuted" by the Biden administration.
However, Cruz made it clear that those who committed violence that day — especially on police officers — should be prosecuted and serve their time.
Cruz, fresh off his reelection victory in Texas a month ago, joined "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" to react to President Joe Biden's sweeping pardon of first son Hunter Biden. Cruz was asked if the pardon, which he called "infuriating and utterly predictable," would make it open season for Trump to do the same for Jan. 6 protesters.
"I think President Trump is going to exercise his pardon authority and exercise it legitimately," Cruz said. "When it comes to Jan. 6, there's a very clear line that I think should be followed. If anyone who committed a crime of violence, anyone who physically assaulted a police officer, they should serve their sentence. They should be prosecuted, they should go to jail. Nobody is entitled to violently assault a police officer. Whether I agree with your politics or disagree with it, violence is unacceptable.
"But what the Biden Justice Department has done is it's used the violent acts of a limited number of people as an excuse to persecute peaceful protests," Cruz added. "And I fully expect that President Trump is going to pardon those who engaged in peaceful protests, those who were persecuted by the Biden DOJ and did not commit acts of violence.
"I also expect President Trump to pardon the pro-life protesters who were targeted and persecuted because of the corruption of the Biden DOJ. That's an entirely legitimate use of the pardon power," he told Van Susteren.
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