Republican presidential candidate Gov. Doug Burgum (N.D.) dodged a question on whether, if elected, he would issue a hypothetical pardon to President Trump.
“You’re asking me a hypothetical question about something from two years from now, when we don’t even know if this is going to go forward or if there’s even going to be a conviction, so I think I just tend to stay away from hypotheticals,” Burgum said in an interview Friday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”
He suggested President Biden was in a position to pardon Trump now, and then “the nation can get back” to focusing on other issues.
“If you want to ask someone about pardoning President Trump, I mean, ask Biden. He could do it right now, and then the nation can get back and focusing on the things that do matter the most to the most number of Americans,” Burgum added.
Burgum, a long-shot candidate who entered the race with an economy-focused agenda, is the latest primary candidate to answer the question that has already divided many in the race.
Former Vice President Mike Pence also recently tried navigating the issue, saying that “these are serious charges” but it’s “premature” to discuss pardons.
“I take the pardon authority very seriously. It’s an enormously important power of someone in an executive position. And I just think it’s premature to have any conversation about that right now,” Pence said on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.”
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley sought a similar balance when asked the question, saying, “I would be inclined in favor of a pardon. But I think it’s really premature at this point when he’s not even been convicted of anything.”
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy took a different approach. Immediately following news of the federal indictment, he pledged to pardon Trump, and recently called on other candidates in the race to follow suit.
“I have signed a commitment to pardon President Trump promptly on January 20, 2025, for the federal charges,” Ramaswamy wrote in a letter this week. “I respectfully request that you join me in this commitment or else publicly explain why you will not.”
Trump was arraigned Tuesday in a federal court in Miami on 37 counts of criminal charges related to obstruction and willful retention of national defense information. Trump pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.