Trump posts regrets about pardoning Democrat congressman

Last week, Donald Trump made national headlines by pardoning Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX). He was even applauded by liberal Stephen A. Smith, an ESPN and radio show host, for the “genius” of the move.

Trump may have tossed whatever favor he gained with the liberal crowd by blasting Cuellar for running for office as a Democrat again, saying he regrets the pardon.

Giving the pardon

Cuellar is now one in a long line of politicians charged or convicted of corruption who have been pardoned by Trump.

In his case, he allegedly started taking bribes about six years ago that amounted to some $600,000 from a foreign entity.

Just before the charges were announced, Cuellar started to speak up against Biden’s immigration policies, which was noticed by Trump.

After explaining how Biden weaponized the system against Cuellar and announcing the pardon, Trump wrapped it up by stating, “Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight. Your nightmare is finally over!”

I’m a victim

After Trump announced the pardon, Cuellar thanked him, stating, “I think the facts have been clear about this, but I would also say I want to thank God for standing during this very difficult time with my family and I. Now we can get back to work. Nothing has changed. We will continue working hard.”

He also explained how the government tried to set him up to take the fall for all of this. He stated, “… even went and did a sting operation, a separate sting operation to try to bribe me. And that failed, and what they did there was wrong.

“So again, no quid pro quo from any of the evidence, from any of the individuals. And, therefore, they even did attempted [sic] a sting operation where they were trying to entrap me, and that failed.”

Here’s the thing, though… this investigation started way before Cuellar had ever announced his opposition to Joe Biden’s immigration policies. One could easily make the case that Cuellar made his pivot after the whispers started that he was being investigated, perhaps being proactive on the off chance that Trump would win the 2024 election.

Disappointing

Now, Trump clearly stated during the pardon that this was to right a wrong, yet Trump went off on Cuellar after he announced he was running for re-election as a Democrat.

Trump stated, “Only a short time after signing the Pardon, Congressman Henry Cuellar announced that he will be ‘running’ for Congress again, in the Great State of Texas (a State where I received the highest number of votes ever recorded!), as a Democrat.”

Trump continued, “Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like. Oh’ well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”

My assessment… much like what happened with NYC Mayor Eric Adams and his corruption charges, which were dismissed by Trump’s DOJ, Cuellar played Trump to get the pardon. Worse yet, now that Trump has called him out, there is no reason for Cuellar to work with Trump over the final three years of his term. Trump, at the very least, had an ally he could lean on for some issues, but I think that bridge has now been burned.

Even worse, Democrats will claim this was a quid pro quo pardon, likely adding it to the long list of things they want to impeach Trump for if they take back Congress. Trump should have buried his anger on this one because that post is going to be a problem for him moving forward.