US Senate minority leader slams Trump over pardoning of former Honduran president

WASHINGTON

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed President Donald Trump on Tuesday over his pardoning of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

"I want to begin with a truly disgusting and alarming piece of news the American people got this morning.

"This morning, the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, was released from prison after Donald Trump gave him a pardon," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Hernandez, who served as president from 2014 to 2022, was sentenced in June 2024 to 45 years in prison in the US for drug trafficking.

"We all know Trump does a lot of hypocritical things — almost every day there is hypocrisy oozing from the White House — but pardoning one of the world's biggest drug traffickers is egregious, shameful and dangerous, even for Donald Trump. It would be bad enough on its own for Donald Trump to pardon this horrible drug trafficker," Schumer said.

He added that Trump pardoned a person who was convicted of "helping move 400 tons of cocaine" to the US, while the president "blows up alleged drug boats to prevent drugs from getting to America."

“You can’t have it both ways, Mr. President: You can’t talk a big game about hunting down drug traffickers and getting drugs off our streets and then turn around and free a dangerous, convicted drug lord,” Schumer said.