Overview
- On ABC’s This Week, Sen. Eric Schmitt said he was not familiar with the facts when asked if he supports President Trump’s pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández.
- Schmitt repeatedly avoided a direct answer and pivoted to defending strikes on suspected narco‑boats, asserting the president’s authority to target narco‑terrorists at sea.
- Host George Stephanopoulos pressed Schmitt, noting Hernández’s U.S. conviction for conspiring to bring roughly 400 tons of cocaine into the country.
- Mediaite reported that Trump has defended the pardon by claiming Hernández was targeted by the Biden Justice Department.
- Viewers reacting on social media criticized Schmitt for attacking the interviewer and refusing to address the pardon directly, according to The Mirror US.