Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) took a swipe at President Donald Trump on Wednesday over the possibility that he could try to pardon himself — warning the move would appear “a little king-like.”
Tillis made the remark during an interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt on “The Arena” after she asked whether he believed Trump could ultimately try to pardon himself.
“Pardoning yourself for offenses that you haven’t committed yet sounds a little bit unseemly, seems a little king-like to be honest with you,” Tillis said. “And I would hope he’d use judgment not to do that.”
The North Carolina Republican, who is not seeking reelection, argued that Trump would be building on a precedent set by former President Joe Biden. Tillis went on to accuse Biden of helping “galvanize the concept of prospective get-out-of-jail-free pardons.”
“And then President Trump — you know, we keep on besting each other,” Tillis said.
But Tillis still stopped short of calling on Congress to eliminate the presidential pardon power, although he argued lawmakers should consider additional limits around it.
“I do think, to the extent that we can find ways to create contours around it, I think it’s pretty important,” he said.
The GOP senator concluded that the pardon power has been “exploited” in recent years.
“I don’t think that some of the pardons over the past two administrations have been within the contours of what the Founding Fathers envisioned,” he said.
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