ESPN star Stephen A. Smith criticized President Biden over one aspect of his decision to pardon his son Hunter, weeks before he is set to leave the White House.

Biden announced the pardon on Sunday after the first son was convicted in two separate federal trials this year. The pardon applied to crimes against the United States that Hunter Biden “committed or may have committed” from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024.

The ESPN sports expert opened Monday night’s latest episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show” by directly addressing the president’s sudden decision.

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“With all due respect to the president of the United States, particularly as it relates to that statement, you are full of it,” he said. “I’m going to look right here, across the national airwaves, look the President of the United States in the face and say, ‘You’re full of this.'”

Smith said he had no problem with Biden not wanting his son to go to prison and insisted that President-elect Donald Trump would have done the same for his sons.

“I said weeks ago, you’re damn right you should let him go. “He’s your son, and he’s a recovering addict, and he’s been battling these demons for years,” Smith said. “And the fact that you released your son I completely understand. Donald Trump would have released his son. Anyone would have done it, or at least most people would have. I understand that. That’s not the problem, sir.”

“The problem and why I say you are full of it is because of the apology you gave. A simple statement: ‘This is my son. I have the power to pardon him, grant him clemency, whatever. That’s what I do. You all kick stones.’ That would be good enough for me. This is your son. This is your child. And like you said, he’s been through a lot. But what else did you say about him?”

Biden said in his statement that he believes his son was “treated differently” in the cases in which he was convicted.

“The prosecution in his cases came only after several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election,” the president said. “Then there was a carefully negotiated plea deal in the courtroom that the Justice Department agreed to — and some of my political opponents in Congress took credit for putting political pressure on the trial. Had the plea deal gone through, it would have been a fair and reasonable resolution to Hunter’s cases.

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“No reasonable person looking at the facts of Hunter’s cases could come to any conclusion other than that Hunter was singled out simply because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an attempt to break Hunter – who is five and a half years old. Years sober, even in the face of relentless attacks and selective prosecution, they have tried to break me – and there is no reason to believe it will stop here.

Smith dismissed the idea that Hunter Biden was targeted because of the president, and took issue with his issuing the pardon now, after the election, after months of talking about Trump and his trials, tribulations and had spoken condemnations.

“They didn’t talk about it at the time. In fact, you specifically said you wouldn’t pardon your son…before the election. They’re announcing it now that we know Donald Trump is coming and is about to be sworn in.” “You planned to do this all along, but it doesn’t make you any less happy,” he said.

“Because when you look at Donald Trump and how the Democrats have acted against him… you understand that the Democrats are no longer in a position to say anything, right? You can talk until the cows come home. They whistle into the wind. Nobody wants to hear what you have to say. I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about your party.

“Because if you pardon your son, go back on your word and tell the American people that there was no way you were going to pardon him, even though everyone and your grandmother knew you were lying and didn’t hold you accountable for it. And now you’ve confirmed what people would probably lie about exactly what you wouldn’t do for your son go to jail.” What’s wrong with you?

In a statement Sunday evening, Hunter said he would “never take his father’s grace for granted” and that he planned to dedicate his life to helping those struggling with addiction.

“I acknowledged and took responsibility for my mistakes in the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that were exploited to publicly humiliate and shame myself and my family for political sport,” the first son wrote.

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“During addiction, I missed out on many opportunities and advantages. In recovery, we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the grace we have been given.”

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