In an embarrassing misstep, the liberal magazine *Esquire* was forced to retract a baseless accusation leveled against former President George H.W. Bush. The claim, designed to shield President Joe Biden from mounting criticism over his controversial blanket pardon of Hunter Biden, falsely suggested that Bush had pardoned his own son, Neil Bush.
The now-debunked assertion came from Charles P. Pierce, a liberal commentator who framed the claim as a way to deflect conservative outrage over Biden’s decision. Pierce alleged that Bush used his presidential clemency powers to pardon Neil over his involvement in the 1980s savings and loan scandal.
“[The] lucky American businessman[‘s]… father exercised his unlimited constitutional power of clemency to pardon the Lucky American Businessman for all that S&L business way back when,” Pierce wrote, adding in an inflammatory subheadline, “The moral: Shut the f— up about Hunter Biden, please.”
But there’s one glaring problem: the claim is entirely false. Neil Bush was never pardoned. The misrepresentation drew immediate backlash, forcing *Esquire* to issue a retraction and scrub the article.
In a correction posted earlier this week, the magazine admitted its error, stating, “This column has been removed due to an error. The original article stated incorrectly that President George H.W. Bush gave a presidential pardon to his son, Neil Bush. Esquire regrets the mistake.”
This blunder highlights the desperation among left-leaning outlets to deflect scrutiny from Joe Biden’s unprecedented decision to grant his son, Hunter, a sweeping pardon that covers over a decade of alleged criminal activity.
Meanwhile, Biden’s blanket pardon for Hunter continues to draw fire, with critics pointing out the hypocrisy of Biden’s earlier claims that “no one is above the law.” X’s Community Notes platform even added a fact-check to Biden’s infamous tweet from years earlier, highlighting his decision to pardon Hunter for crimes committed between 2014 and 2024.
In his statement justifying the pardon, Biden claimed he acted out of fairness, arguing Hunter was treated differently due to his family name. “It is clear that Hunter was treated differently,” Biden said, pointing to Hunter’s tax and firearm charges. He argued that similar cases typically result in non-criminal resolutions.
Biden also framed the pardon as a response to what he described as politically motivated attacks by Republicans. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” he claimed.
However, critics see the move as a blatant abuse of power. Many argue that Biden’s pardon undermines his own Justice Department, which had negotiated a plea deal for Hunter that fell apart earlier this year.
The *Esquire* debacle underscores the broader problem: a left-wing media ecosystem willing to distort history to excuse the actions of their favored political figures. By falsely accusing a Republican president of behavior he never committed, *Esquire* sought to downplay the unprecedented nature of Biden’s actions.
For conservatives, the episode is yet another reminder of the double standard in media coverage. If the roles were reversed, would the left—and the media—accept such a brazen abuse of power so quietly? Unlikely.
