Donald Trump‘s fixer-turned-antagonist Michael Cohen begged President Joe Biden to pardon him on live TV, saying he’s ‘somebody’s son too.’
Cohen’s last-ditch plea came during an appearance on MSNBC’s ‘The Weekend’ on Saturday, a day after Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge for his 34 felony convictions in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case.
Cohen claimed he was asking for the pardon from Biden because it would protect him from any potential prosecution a Trump-led Justice Department could pursue against him.
‘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, referencing the outgoing president’s pardon of son Hunter Biden last month.
‘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,’ Cohen added.
In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations related to Trump’s first run for the White House in 2016.
Prosecutors said Cohen was involved in arranging $280,000 in hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and to the publisher of the National Enquirer.
Cohen spent most of his three-year prison sentence on home confinement, though he was behind bars for about 13-and-a-half months.
Michael Cohen, pictured, appeared on MSNBC Saturday and begged President Joe Biden for a pardon, saying he has the same responsibility to him as he does with his son Hunter
Biden pardoned Hunter in December for what he said was a ‘selective’ and ‘unfair’ prosecution
Since getting out of prison, Cohen has become a harsh critic of Trump and frequently appears on liberal networks to bash him.
MSNBC host Symone Sanders agreed with Cohen’s concern over being on Trump’s ‘enemies list’ but cautioned him about invoking the president’s son, saying she didn’t ‘think that’s your best way to go get a pardon.’
‘I mean, 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 said. ‘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.’
In his pardon order, Biden said the Justice Department’s prosecution of Hunter was ‘selective’ and ‘unfair.’
Cohen argued that he’s taking Trump ‘at his word’ that he will go after his political enemies once he becomes president..
Cohen believes he fits into that category, especially since he testified against Trump during the hush-money trial.
President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office in just seven days. (Pictured: Trump takes the oath on January 20, 2017, in Washington D.C.)
‘You have to take Donald Trump for his word when he turns around. So far, everything that he said that he intends to do, he actually intends to do. And he has been doing it one by one by one,’ Cohen said.
‘Now, it may not all happen on day one, as he said, but ultimately he’ll have four years plus with a whole group of individuals that are now going to be filling government positions in order to help him effectuate his goals,’ he added.
Before Trump was elected in November, Cohen said he would leave the US if his former boss retook the White House.
Trump has suggested many individuals opposed to him should be arrested or prosecuted.
They include President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and others.
Trump has also directed attacks against those who prosecuted him or oversaw his various court proceedings.
During a campaign stop in Iowa last year, Trump said New York Attorney General Letitia James should be ‘arrested and punished accordingly.’
James sued Trump in 2022, alleging widespread fraud by the Trump business empire in their New York real estate dealings.
That case resulted in a judgment which saw him, his sons and their business ordered to cough up over $450 million.
The judge who oversaw that case, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, was also a frequent target of Trump’s during the trial.
Trump said he, too, should be ‘arrested and punished accordingly.’
