JD Vance says violent Jan. 6 rioters shouldn’t receive pardons

Vice President-elect JD Vance said Sunday who he thinks should and shouldn’t receive presidential pardons for their actions during the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6 and you’ve had [Attorney General] Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Vance told “Fox News Sunday.”

He added, “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.”

Vance’s comments broke slightly from what President-elect Donald Trump has laid out in his pardon plans.

In a December interview with NBC News, Trump told “Meet the Press” that on his first day in office he would pardon his supporters who rioted on Jan. 6, adding that the rioters have been prosecuted in a “very nasty system.”

“I’m going to be acting very quickly, first day,” Trump said, adding that the rioters who have been convicted have “been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”

Unlike Vance, Trump did not rule out pardoning those who pleaded guilty to violent crimes such as assaulting police officers.

“Because they had no choice,” Trump said about the guilty pleas, adding: “I know the system. The system’s a very corrupt system. They say to a guy, ‘You’re going to go to jail for two years or for 30 years.’ And these guys are looking, their whole lives have been destroyed. For two years, they’ve been destroyed.”

Last week Trump reiterated that he was considering “major pardons” for Jan. 6 rioters and would not rule out including them among his list of pardons when asked.

Vance on Sunday did say “there’s a little bit of a gray area there” regarding those who committed violent acts on Jan. 6, adding that “we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law.”

Later, in a post on X, Vance elaborated on his remarks, saying he and the president-elect would evaluate each Jan. 6 case individually and that violent offenders who were “provoked” would be evaluated for pardons, too.

“The president saying he’ll look at each case (and me saying the same) is not some walkback. I assure you, we care about people unjustly locked up. Yes, that includes people provoked and it includes people who got a garbage trial,” Vance wrote.

A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment on this story.

Since January 2021, more than 1,270 defendants have been convicted in connection with their actions at the Capitol and more than 1,580 have been arrested. More than 700 have completed their sentences or were never penalized with jail or prison time.