Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen publicly begged for a presidential pardon from President Joe Biden on Saturday, claiming he deserves the same protection Biden granted his son Hunter before leaving office.
“Yeah, I put in the application for a presidential pardon because I believe that Joe Biden has the same responsibility to me that he had to his own son,” Cohen said on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.”
“And I would expect that the same exact pardon that he gave his son has to go to me and to anybody else that’s on that enemies list, whether they want it or not, because I assure you, solitary confinement, where I did 51 days, sucks.”
Host Symone Sanders challenged Cohen’s comparison to the president’s son. “Hunter Biden is the president’s last surviving son,” Sanders said.
“I’m somebody’s son also, by the way,” Cohen responded.
“Agreed. You are somebody’s son,” Sanders replied. “But I mean, to be very clear, you’re not the president’s son. And he pardoned Hunter primarily because that is his son, I think.”
Cohen, who spent three years in prison for tax evasion, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress while working for Trump, said he was scared about the president-elect’s intentions.
“You have to take Donald Trump for his word when he turns around,” Cohen said. “So far, everything that he said that he intends to do, he actually intends to do.”
The pardon request follows Cohen’s September vow to flee the country if Trump won.
“I’m already working on a foreign passport with a completely different name. I don’t know how it’s going to work as far as dealing with my wife and my children. I certainly don’t want them moving to where I’m looking to go,” Cohen said.
Biden pardoned his son Hunter in December despite previous statements that he would not do so. The president is reportedly considering pre-emptive pardons for other Trump critics, including former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci, before leaving office January 20.
Michael Cohen is now begging for a pardon on MSNBC:
“I would expect that the same exact pardon he gave his son has to go to me…”
“Hunter Biden is the president’s last surviving son.”
“I’m somebody’s son also.”
“But you’re not the president’s son.” 😭pic.twitter.com/CKXlWsPo3C
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) January 12, 2025