‘The View': Joy Behar Says Trump ‘Would Pardon Jack the Ripper If He Was Alive'
As Donald Trump continues to hand out pardons to convicted criminals, the president noted on Monday that he would consider pardoning disgraced music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, depending on the circumstances. And with that admission, 'The View' host Joy Behar is pretty sure that Trump would even pardon a known serial killer.
To kick off the days Hot Topics, the ABC hosts dug in on Trump's recent pardons, including that of Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were charged by the first Trump administration with tax and bank fraud, and later convicted. For host Sara Haines, it flew in the face of Trump's rage against a 'two-tiered' justice system.
'The presidential pardon power, as Alyssa knows, is just, it's such a significant, significant power,' host Sunny Hostin added. 'And it should be used with purpose and intentionality.'
'And I'm just sort of disgusted by what I've seen. Of course presidents have been pardoning people for a long time, but he pardoned 1500 people and most of them were January 6 insurrectionists that assaulted police officers,' she continued.
At that, Behar chimed in, suggesting who Trump's next pardon might be.
'The guy would pardon Jack the Ripper if he was alive,' she said.
She even suggested that someone tell Trump that the famed serial killer is still around, just to see what would happen. But, she also joked that Trump's pardons are rendering lawyers unnecessary.
'All you have to do is get a pardon from him, you don't even have to get a lawyer to defend you anymore,' she said.
Discussing the idea of Trump potentially pardoning Diddy, who is currently on trial for sex crimes and racketeering, the hosts were both disgusted and baffled. Farah Griffin was quick to point out that pardons usually come in cases where an argument can be made that the person on trial isn't getting a fair shake.
'There's not really two sides to Diddy,' she said. 'I don't know anyone in public life who's like 'Oh no, he's a good guy and he's getting a bad deal here.''
'The View' airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.
The post 'The View': Joy Behar Says Trump 'Would Pardon Jack the Ripper If He Was Alive' appeared first on TheWrap.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hill
42 minutes ago
- The Hill
The parade of presidential pardons is a perversion of justice
There are all sorts of checks and balances baked into the Constitution. But one power sits above the law, untouched by Congress, immune to the courts and utterly unaccountable: the presidential pardon. It is the kind of absolute authority you'd expect in a monarchy, not a democracy. The Founding Fathers thought they were building a system of justice with a human touch — where a president, guided by conscience and compassion, could offer mercy to someone wrongfully convicted or genuinely reformed. The pardon was supposed to heal wounds, not reward political allies or well-heeled donors. Nice idea. Too bad it hasn't always worked out that way. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon after Watergate to help the country move on. It was controversial, sure, but Ford was acting on principle, not personal gain. Contrast that with Bill Clinton, who — on his way out the door — pardoned Marc Rich, a fugitive tax cheat whose ex-wife just happened to be a generous Clinton donor. That wasn't mercy. That was transactional politics. Joe Biden used his final hours in office to pardon his son, Hunter, and other family members — along with a few preemptive pardons aimed at blunting potential charges from a future Trump administration. That's not justice. That's insurance. And then there's Donald Trump. Where to begin? Trump opened his second term — on the first day, no less — by pardoning about 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Among them were thugs who assaulted police officers. Then came the pardon parade: Reality television fraudsters Todd and Julie Chrisley. Former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), who lied on his taxes. A corrupt sheriff in Virginia. A Nevada politician who pocketed money meant for fallen police officers — and used it to pay for plastic surgery. A nursing home operator who stiffed the IRS out of $10 million. Trump even tossed a pardon to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) — the same Blagojevich who tried to sell off Barack Obama's Senate seat like it was a used car on Craigslist. Blago, by the way, was also a contestant on Trump's 'Celebrity Apprentice' show. Imagine that. Trump's pardon lawyer — yes, he has one of those now — summed it up with a slogan that belongs on a bumper sticker: 'No MAGA left behind.' That's not a legal doctrine. That's a loyalty program. When presidents start handing out pardons like party favors to friends, donors or political cronies, it's not only the opposite of what the Founding Fathers had it mind, but it also sends a very loud and dangerous message — that the law doesn't apply equally. That who you know matters more than what you did. That justice is just another game for the powerful to rig. And when Biden pardons his own son and Trump pardons his loyal foot soldiers, what are we left with? A pardoning arms race, a perversion of justice that turns the most sacred executive power into a blunt instrument of politics and payback. So why should we care? Because once the ideals put forth in the Constitution become tainted by raw politics — once they're bent, twisted and ignored by the very people sworn to uphold those ideals — the entire democratic experiment begins to buckle. The presidential pardon was meant to show mercy, not mock the law. But in the hands of men more interested in self-preservation and political payback than in public service, it becomes just another tool for corruption. And telling ourselves that 'both sides do it' doesn't make it any less sleazy. Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him @BernardGoldberg.


E&E News
an hour ago
- E&E News
Environment issues abound as panel grills Trump judicial picks
Senate Democrats spent much of the first hearing on President Donald Trump's second-term judicial nominees Wednesday grilling his pick for an influential federal appeals court about whether presidents must follow court orders. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday took up five judicial nominations, spending the bulk of time on Whitney Hermandorfer to serve on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The hearing comes as courts across the country have blocked — at least temporarily — some of Trump's efforts to reshape the federal government, prompting the president and his allies to lash out. Democrats pressed Hermandorfer on whether she would decide against the president. Advertisement 'My role would be to carry out my oath to the Constitution, first and foremost,' Hermandorfer told told Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), adding that she'd rule against the administration 'if that's what the law requires.'


Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
3 Key Takeaways From The CBO's Report On The One Big Beautiful Bill
WASHINGTON - JUNE 5: The U.S. Capitol is shown June 5, 2003 in Washington, DC. Both houses of the ... More U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives meet in the Capitol. (Photo by) The CBO estimates that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. While these are only estimates, the group's analysis is responsible for helping shed light on the economic impacts of proposed legislation. However, many do not know what this group is and what exactly their estimates mean. This comes as Trump publicly disagrees with the estimate and questions the groups assumptions and qualifications. This article discusses what is the CBO. It then provides three key takeaways from their latest report estimating the economic impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The CBO was established under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. A primary focus of this group is to 'provide objective, nonpartisan information to support the Congressional budget process and to help the Congress make effective budget and economic policy.' The office works with Congressional committees, particularly the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, to help determine the economic impact of their bills. Each year, the CBO produces about a thousand cost estimates and publishes reports about the economy and economic-related issues. The office employs approximately 275 individuals who often have significant work experience and skills in economic forecasting and modeling. While Congress sets the CBO's priorities, the group prides itself on being objective, impartial, and nonpartisan. It does not make any policy recommendations and employs a rigorous set of checks and balances to ensure its estimations are fair and unbiased. As ABC News reported, the headline of the CBO's report was that the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would increase the deficit by $2.4 trillion. The way that this works is that the CBO estimates that tax revenues will decline by $3.7 trillion due to, among other things, the renewal of the tax provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, as well as enhanced deductions like a higher state and local income tax deduction for individuals. Despite these lower tax collections, the CBO estimates that the bill will not pay for itself as spending will only decrease by $1.3 trillion. Many of these spending decreases are coming from making cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, as I previously discussed on Forbes. The combination of the $3.7 trillion in lost tax revenues and the $1.3 trillion in lower expenses leads to the CBO's estimate of the $2.4 trillion net effect on the deficit. The CBO estimates the impact over the next decade for major budgetary legislation like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. While a $2.4 trillion net impact may seem large, it is important to point out that the projected impacts are over many years. The reports generated by the CBO also break down the impact by provision, allowing policymakers and taxpayers to understand the impact of specific pieces of legislation more directly. For instance, the CBO estimates that the lost tax revenues from not taxing tips will be about $39 billion, whereas the lost revenue from not taxing overtime will be about $124 billion. While many pieces of this legislation will be costly, the provisions that appear to have the most significant price tag are those extending the tax cuts for individual taxpayers that were passed as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the estimated impact can be seen in their report each year over the next 10 years. According to The Hill, the administration believes the CBO underestimates the economic growth among bills like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. In particular, Trump has criticized the CBO for using a 1.8% growth rate, and he even publicly suggested that the group should be using a rate up to five times higher than that. If the CBO underestimates growth, tax revenues may not decline as much as estimated, resulting in a more favorable set of economic outcomes than the CBO predicted. However, not everybody feels as positive about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's financial prospects as Trump. Newsweek reports that Senators like Chuck Schumer and Jodi Ernst have given the bill the nickname the We're All Going To Die Act (in reference to the removal of many key healthcare programs). Even Trump's associate, Elon Musk, took to X to call for the bill to be voted down due to its costs, as reported by The New York Times. Thus, while Trump disagrees with the estimate, it appears as though there are plenty who are looking at the CBO report with heightened skepticism about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's prospects.