Jill Biden on Hunter’s Pardon: ‘We Just Could Not Let Our Son Go to Jail’

Jill Biden discussed one of the most consequential — and controversial — decisions of her husband former President Joe Biden‘s presidency: the pardon of their son Hunter Biden.

In an interview that aired Sunday, May 31, on CBS News Sunday Morning, the former first lady, 74, told CBS News correspondent Rita Braver she not only supported the decision but actively wanted it to happen. “I truly supported it. I wanted him to pardon Hunter at that point, and I agreed with Joe,” she said.

The admission carries particular weight given that Joe, 83, had publicly and repeatedly vowed he would not use his pardon power to protect his son. That promise was ultimately reversed at the tail end of his presidency, drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle.

During the interview, Jill explained that the calculus shifted dramatically once President Donald Trump won the 2024 election. “When Trump was elected, things changed, and we knew that he would target Hunter. And we just could not let our son go to jail on a charge that no one would go, I mean, no one has ever gone to jail for,” she told Braver.

The former first lady also pointed to what she described as a fundamental shift in the Justice Department as justification for the reversal. “And then the Justice Department changed. And I think that the process was not fair to Hunter,” she said.

In June 2024, Hunter, 56, was convicted on three felony charges related to the purchase of a firearm in 2018 after prosecutors argued he falsely stated on federal paperwork that he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. Separately, in September 2024, he pleaded guilty to all nine counts in a federal tax case, including three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses. Joe’s sweeping pardon ultimately covered both cases.

When Braver pressed Jill on why Joe also extended preemptive pardons to several other family members before leaving office, she explained, “I suppose for the same reason that he felt that they would be targeted.”

Jill’s comments come ahead of the Tuesday, June 2, release of her memoir View from the East Wing, which reflects on her years as first lady during her husband’s presidency.

When Braver asked whether she was concerned the book could draw criticism from Trump or his administration, Jill dismissed the possibility. “Am I worried about it? No, but they can, look, Joe’s attacked every day, there’s negative things that are said by this administration, so I don’t think that’s going to change,” she said.