'He deserves to pay a price': NYT editors appalled as Trump pardon spree unleashes mayhem

Nicole Charky-Chami
Tue, 31 Mar 2026 20:09:36 +0000
Pardons, January 6, Jan. 6, Riot, Midterms, Midterm elections, Republicans, Gop, Donald trump

The New York Times editorial board had a damning message on Tuesday for President Donald Trump and his decision to pardon about 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters who have since committed other crimes.

Unlike past presidents who have waited until their final days in office to issue potentially controversial pardons, Trump has done the opposite. And in doing so, he has created a major problem, the Times editorial board argued.

"President Trump has abandoned this approach. His self-serving pardons are so numerous that public attention cannot keep up with them. It is a version of the strategy that his former adviser Steve Bannon has described as 'flood the zone': Do so much so fast that people cannot follow the consequences," The Times editorial board explained.

Those repercussions have wreaked havoc on communities.

"The American public deserves to understand the mayhem that the Jan. 6 pardons have unleashed," The Times editorial board wrote. "Among the 12 serious recidivists whom we are aware of, four were in jail or prison at the time of the pardon, and they quickly went on to commit more crimes."

The group named and described multiple people associated with the riots at the nation's Capitol, detailing the crimes they committed both after their pardons and prior to them.

It warned Trump and Republicans to stay ready for midterms, when Americans will ultimately have the final response.

"How can the nation hold Mr. Trump accountable for the lawlessness that he has made possible? The only answer is public opinion and its most tangible manifestation: election results," The Times editorial board wrote.

"In this year’s midterms, he and the Republican Party he leads deserve to pay a political price for the pardons. Mr. Trump continues to lionize a violent attack on Congress carried out in his name — an attack that included threats to kill the vice president of the United States and physical assaults against police officers guarding the Capitol. In the aftermath of the attacks, one officer suffered a series of strokes and died, and four other officers died by suicide."