The president has said for months that he would not pardon his son.
“I’ve been very clear — the president is not going to pardon his son,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in December.
Hunter Biden is accused of making false statements in filling out paperwork to purchase a gun in 2018. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The maximum sentence for the most serious charge is 10 years in prison, though if convicted, Hunter Biden would likely face a lighter sentence.
Hunter Biden’s trial is unfolding days after former president Donald Trump was convicted of all counts in his hush money trial in New York. Trump has vocally criticized the trial as “rigged” against him, accusing the judge and prosecutors of being politically motivated.
“He’s trying to undermine it,” Biden said in the ABC News interview. “He got a fair trial. The jury spoke.”
The Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult-film actress. With the verdict, Trump became the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime.
In Hunter Biden’s case, prosecutors have alleged that he falsely claimed on the gun paperwork that he was not addicted to or using illegal drugs. His attorneys have disputed that, saying he was not taking drugs at the time.
The trial saw testimony Thursday from Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter Biden’s late brother, Beau Biden. Hunter Biden began a romantic relationship with Hallie Biden after Beau Biden’s death in 2015, and she threw away the gun that is central to the case.
On the witness stand, Hallie Biden described her efforts to get rid of the gun, saying she “panicked” and was worried about Hunter Biden and her children.
ABC’s interview with Biden took place in France, where Biden joined other world leaders Thursday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, part of a trip in which he is seeking to draw contrasts in leadership style with Trump.
