In a recent live television exchange, Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) robustly challenged ABC news anchor George Stephanopoulos over the newly announced full pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernndez by President Trump.
The pardon comes after Hernndez was convicted in U.S. court on drug-trafficking and firearms charges.
According to Gateway Pundit, Hernndez, who was extradited in 2022 and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, has consistently maintained that he was politically targeted by the Biden Department of Justice. He claims that his conviction was based on the coerced testimony of cartel members associated with Hondurass radical leftist Libre Party. Following the pardon, Hernndez is now set for immediate release.
In a written statement from prison, Hernndez stated, I write to you from a federal penitentiary, unjustly serving a 45-year sentence, effectively a life sentence given my age. Just as you, President Trump, I have suffered political persecution, targeted by the Biden-Harris administration not for any wrongdoing, but for political reasons. My wrongful conviction is based on the uncorroborated statements of convicted drug traffickers, one of whom even recorded a video exposing senior members of the Honduran radical left party, Libre, discussing bribes with traffickers, yet admitted during my rigged trial that they had no evidence to support their accusations against me, just the word of a drug trafficker.
However, Stephanopoulos seemed unswayed by these assertions, instead pushing a narrative that painted Trump as lenient on trafficking. When asked about his stance on the pardon, Senator Schmitt redirected the conversation, highlighting what he saw as a coordinated effort to misrepresent Trumps aggressive counter-narco-terrorism campaign.
Stephanopoulos attempted to corner Schmitt a second time, but the Senator instead spotlighted what he perceived as ABCs attempt to distract from the overwhelming public support for Trumps crackdown on cartel terrorists. Schmitt also took the opportunity to criticize Democrats for their alleged cover-up of President Joe Biden's cognitive decline.
In the exchange, Stephanopoulos asked, Senator, let me just begin where we left off with. Congressman Schmitt, do you support this pardon of the former Honduran president? To which Schmitt replied, I'm not familiar with the facts or circumstances, but I think what's telling here is, to try to imply that somehow President Trump is soft on drug smuggling is just ridiculous. It's totally ridiculous.
Schmitt went on to defend Trumps border security measures and his authority to combat narco-terrorism. He also criticized Democrats for their alleged political motivations and their failure to recognize the cognitive decline of President Biden.
Stephanopoulos pushed back, questioning Schmitts unfamiliarity with the details of the pardon, which had been widely reported. Schmitt responded, Well, I'm curious about your pushback on that particular point. With your previous guest, you had zero pushback because he's giving the Democrat talking points, like you spew every single week which is probably why your ratings are so bad.
Schmitt concluded by accusing Stephanopoulos of attempting to divert attention from what he claimed was widespread American support for aggressive action against narco-terrorism. This exchange underscores the ongoing political tensions and differing perspectives on key issues such as drug trafficking, presidential pardons, and the role of the media in shaping public opinion.
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