'A lot of downside': Trump accused of hedging on Proud Boys' pardon because he fears voters' reaction

One of the most prominent Proud Boys members feels confident that Donald Trump will pardon him and other Jan. 6 rioters if he gets re-elected next year.

Joe Biggs, who was sentenced last week to 17 years in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol assault, told conspiracy monger Alex Jones last week on Infowars that he believed the former president when he pledged to offer "full pardons" to his supporters who had taken part in the insurrection, reported the Washington Post.

“Oh, I know he’ll pardon us,” Biggs told Jones. “I believe that with all my heart.”

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Trump has complained about the prosecutions of himself and his supporters who went inside the Capitol and fought with law enforcement, although he was noncommittal when asked specifically in May about pardoning the Proud Boys.

“I don’t know. I’d have to look at their case,” Trump said. “But I will say in Washington, D.C., you cannot get a fair trial. You cannot — just like in New York City, you can’t get a fair trial.”

Trump doled out pardons to friends and associates like Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Steve Bannon after he lost the election to Joe Biden, and Post columnist Philip Bump suggested he might be even more generous in a second term.

"That those controversial pardons came after the voting was done is telling," Bump wrote. "Trump recognizes the value in hyping the Jan. 6 convictions as political; it fits nicely into his rhetoric about being unfairly targeted himself. But he also seems to recognize that giving someone like Manafort a pass was the sort of thing that was better done after voters went to the polls."

It's not likely Trump would commit to pardoning Biggs or other Proud Boys extremists before the 2024 election, and instead wait until he could decide to unilaterally and without having to face re-election again.

"There’s little additional political upside and a lot of downside," Bump wrote. "As president, though — and as a president who can’t stand for reelection? Biggs’s confidence may be justified. That Trump now unquestionably knows who the Proud Boys are and what they stand for may not serve as much of a deterrent."