Major news networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC dedicated significant airtime to covering former President Donald Trump's pardons of individuals involved in the January 6th Capitol events. However, these same networks provided minimal coverage of President Joe Biden's preemptive pardons for his own family members. This disparity in coverage was highlighted by a recent study conducted by the Media Research Center.
The study examined newscasts from the major networks between President Biden's inauguration on January 20th and the morning of January 22nd. It found that while both Trump and Biden issued pardons on the same day, the networks devoted over 46 minutes to discussing Trump's actions, compared to just over three minutes covering Biden's pardons of his family.
This stark contrast was evident across all three networks. ABC dedicated over 15 minutes to the Trump pardons and a mere 34 seconds to Biden's. CBS spent over 16 minutes on Trump and just over a minute on Biden. Similarly, NBC allocated nearly 15 minutes to Trump and less than two minutes to Biden.
Trump's pardons, which included individuals charged with crimes related to the January 6th Capitol events, drew criticism for potentially condoning violence against law enforcement. Biden's preemptive pardons for his family members also faced criticism, but received significantly less attention from the major news outlets.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump defended his decision, citing the lengthy prison sentences and alleged mistreatment of those involved in the January 6th events. He argued that they were protesting the election results and deserved to have their sentences pardoned. He also emphasized that he had been transparent about his intentions to issue these pardons.
Conversely, Biden had previously expressed concerns about preemptive pardons, questioning the precedent they set for the nation's legal system. This prior stance adds another layer to the disparity in media coverage surrounding the two sets of pardons.
