In a biting Wednesday night monologue, The Daily Show correspondent Josh Johnson took aim at former U.S. President Donald Trump's bewildering explanation for why he pardoned a former Central American leader convicted on major drug charges.
Trump's Pardon and Confusing Justification
The segment focused on Trump's decision to pardon ex-Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. Hernández was convicted last year for his role in a conspiracy that helped smuggle a staggering 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. The pardon has drawn intense criticism, particularly given the Trump administration's own stated crackdown on international drug trafficking.
Johnson highlighted the initial confusion, playing a clip from Sunday where Trump claimed not to know who a reporter was referring to when asked about pardoning a "notorious drug trafficker." "You know you’ve been pardoning too many people when you’re like, ‘I’m sorry, which notorious drug lord are we talking about? At least give me the first letter, or we’ll be here all night!’" Johnson quipped to audience laughter.
A Flimsy Defense and a Slippery Slope Argument
The comedian then dissected Trump's subsequent attempt to clarify, in which the former president floated an unsubstantiated claim about a "Biden administration setup" before offering a broader defense. "You take any country you want. If somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn’t mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life," Trump told reporters, adding, "And that includes this country, OK, to be honest."
Johnson sarcastically reframed Trump's logic, suggesting the former president fears a precedent. "Clearly, Trump is worried about a slippery slope here," Johnson said. "It’s like that classic poem: ‘First, they came for the wildly corrupt presidents, and I said nothing, because that would be admissible in court.’" The line was a clever twist on the famous post-World War II poem by Martin Niemöller, earning cheers from the studio audience.
Reactions and Lingering Questions
The segment underscored the profound contradiction at the heart of the pardon. On one hand, the Trump administration pursued aggressive anti-drug policies. On the other, it granted clemency to a foreign head of state found guilty by a U.S. jury of facilitating one of the largest drug trafficking conspiracies in recent history. Johnson's satire cut to the core of the issue, questioning the coherence of Trump's reasoning and the message it sends about accountability for high-level corruption linked to the drug trade.
The full clip from Johnson's Wednesday night monologue on The Daily Show continues to circulate online, prompting further discussion about presidential pardon power and its application.
