Vance Gives Everyone Whiplash With Blatantly Hypocritical Defense Of Trump's January 6 Pardons

Vice President J.D. Vance was criticized for defending President Donald Trump's decision to pardon all of the January 6 rioters to Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan mere weeks after stating that "if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned."

Rioters imprisoned for their involvement in the attack were released, and judges began dismissing dozens of pending cases on Tuesday following Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus individuals charged in the insurrection.

RELATED: Capitol Officer Slams Trump For Pardoning Jan. 6 Rioters: 'I Have Been Betrayed By My Country'

Trump’s executive order upended what had been the largest prosecution in Justice Department history, freeing individuals captured on camera brutally assaulting police officers as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of plotting violent efforts to halt the peaceful transfer of power after his election defeat.

Brennan noted that Vance said the following during a Fox News appearance two weeks prior:

'If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6 and had Merrick Garland's Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned.'"

She then asked:

"Did you counsel the president against these blanket pardons for 1,500 people — including those who committed violence?"

You can watch their exchange in the video below.

Vance argued that Brennan had selectively quoted his remarks from the Fox interview, omitting his follow-up statement that "there are gray areas." He accused the Justice Department under now-former Attorney General Merrick Garland of denying constitutional protections during prosecutions and applying "double standards" in sentencing, comparing the treatment of January 6 protesters to that of other groups.

He added:

"What the president said during the campaign is that he was going to look at a case by case basis and that's exactly what we did. We looked at 1,600 cases and the thing that came out of it, Margaret, is a massive denial of due process, of liberty, and a lot of people were denied their constitutional rights."

"The president believes that, I believe that, and I believe he made the right decision."

Brennan responded by describing two of the assaults against police officers on that fateful day:

"Daniel Rodriguez used an electro-shock weapon against a policeman who was dragged out of the defensive line by plunging it into the officer's neck. He was in prison, sentenced to 12 years, 7 months. He got a pardon."

"Ronald McAbee hit a cop while wearing reinforced brass knuckle gloves, and he held one down on the ground as other rioters assailed the officer for over 20 seconds, causing a concussion. If you stand with law enforcement, how can you call these people unjustly imprisoned?"

Vance replied:

"There's an important issue in here: There's what the people actually did on January 6 and we're not saying that everybody did everything perfectly, and what did Merrick Garland's Justice Department do, unjustly prosecuting well over a thousand Americans in a way that was politically motivated."

When asked whether "violence like that against a police officer is ever justified," Vance said:

"Violence against a police officer is not justified but that doesn't mean you should have Merrick Garland's weaponized Department of Justice expose you to an incredibly unfair process, to a denial of constitutional rights, and frankly, to a double standard that was not applied to many people, including, of course, the Black Lives Matter rioters who killed over two dozen people and never had the weight of a weaponized Department of Justice come against them."

"The pardon power is not just for people who are angels or people who are perfect, and of course, we love our law enforcement and want people to be peaceful with everybody, but especially with our good cops."

"That's a separate issue from what Merrick Garland's Justice Department did. "We rectified a wrong and I stand by it."

Vance was swiftly called out.

Meanwhile, Democrats remain united in their opposition to Trump's pardons.

Every Senate Democrat has signed a resolution condemning President Donald Trump for pardoning individuals convicted of assaulting police officers during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The resolution's 47 signatories include all 45 Senate Democrats, as well as the two independent senators who caucus with the Democrats, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.