Several social media users, most identifying as Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters, have expressed discontent with President Joe Biden’s decision to grant clemency to a Chinese national who pleaded guilty to possession of thousands of child pornography images in 2022.
Although the social media users appear to be reacting to the news now, Washington and Beijing engaged in a prisoner swap two weeks ago in which the individual, Jin Shanlin, was exchanged. According to the Justice Department’s executive grant of clemency, it was granted by Biden to Jin on November 22. At least three Americans who had been detained in China were released and sent back home.
“We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the People’s Republic of China,” a National Security Council spokesperson told several news outlets in a statement in late November.
Jin was a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University when he was arrested in 2021 and later sentenced to 97 months (or just over eight years) in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography before a U.S. magistrate judge in July 2022, according to court documents. His sentencing also required him to pay $30,500 in restitution and $100 in assessment.
Newsweek reached out via email to the White House for comment on Thursday.
Pete Marovich/Getty Images
Jin has family connections to China’s Communist Party, according to reports.
Biden’s clemency grant for Jin says he must leave and “remain outside the limits of the United States.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene reshared a post on X (formerly Twitter) with information about Jin, along with a segment from a 60 Minutes interview Leslie Stahl did with her in April 2023. She captioned the post: “Democrats really are the party of pedophiles.”
In the video segment, Greene reiterated her claims, stating that Democrats “support grooming children” and “sexualizing children.” She cited transgender surgeries as an example, arguing that “sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children.”
Also on X, user @MJTruthUltra, who is followed by President-elect Donald Trump’s account that reshares his Truth Social posts, called the clemency “just sick,” echoing rhetoric similar to Greene’s, writing, “The party of pedophiles protecting pedophiles.”
X user Alexandria Brown questioned the president’s reasoning for granting Jin clemency, writing, “I find it difficult to comprehend what grounds there are for clemency.”
Unrelated to the China-U.S. swap, Biden commuted on Thursday the sentences of 1,499 people who were released from prison to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the largest single-day clemency action in the country’s modern history.
Biden also pardoned 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes in an effort to promote second chances and to address problems with the nation’s criminal justice system.
Though Biden had long promised not to use his clemency power, which are outlined in Article II Section 2 of the Constitution, for his family members, he recently reversed course with his son Hunter, arguing that the prosecution was politically motivated.
President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in a little over a month, on January 20. He said he will immediately pardon people convicted of participating in the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
