A pardon and a commutation are not the same
WHEN & WHERE WAS IT SAID?
When: Jan 20, 2025
Where: Remarks in Emancipation Hall, U.S. Capitol
Original context / reporting ↗THE CLAIM (BRACE YOURSELF)
Biden pardoned 33 murderers
WHAT HE SAID (WORD FOR WORD, SADLY)
He said Biden pardoned "what is it, 33 murderers, absolute murderers, the worst murderers."
WHEN AND WHERE (THE RECEIPTS HAVE A CALENDAR)
Remarks in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall on Jan. 20, 2025, fact-checked by the AP.
WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS (BRING SNACKS)
- On Dec. 23, 2024, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row to life imprisonment.
- A commutation changes a sentence; it does not exonerate anyone. Pardons and commutations are different acts.
- Three federal inmates still face execution: Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Robert Bowers.
WHY THIS MATTERS
He called it 'what is it, 33'. The count was 37, and the word was wrong.
THE FACTS (SORRY)
Biden commuted 37 death sentences, not pardoned 33 people.
Finding: FalseBold. Wrong, but bold.
Sources & further reading
Keep digging
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Editorial note: each article reports only details found in the linked sources. Where a source does not give a venue, date or exact wording, we say so instead of guessing. Quotations may need further editorial verification against primary recordings or transcripts.