During an interview on Monday, Fox News host Harris Faulkner and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) vigorously agreed that President Trump has the power to pardon himself.

The two were discussing a tweet Trump posted earlier in the day stating that “I have the absolute right to PARDON myself.” As ThinkProgress detailed, a Department of Justice analysis written a month before President Nixon resigned concluded that presidents do not in fact have that power.

But during the interview with Biggs, Faulkner made it seem as though legal experts are in broad agreement with Trump’s position.


“Everything from what I’ve read and legal experts I’ve talked with have said, ‘well yes, the president could do that,'” she said.

Biggs responded to Faulkner’s comment by claiming that he thinks discussion of a self-pardon is “premature” because “you have to have a crime before you pardon yourself.” (His analysis is incorrect — Nixon was pardoned despite not being charged with any crimes.) But Biggs then said that “if you look at it, there is no constitutional constraint on the power to pardon of the president.”

“And so I think there is a constitutional authority for the president to pardon himself,” Biggs said.

Before Faulkner changed topics, both she and Biggs noted that while they think Trump has the power to pardon himself, doing so would create political problems. But notably, Biggs stopped short of saying that a self-pardon would result in Trump’s impeachment.

Faulker and Biggs’ discussion reveals that if Trump does in fact ultimately make the unprecedented move to pardon himself, he can expect some support among House Republicans and personalities on his favorite cable news network.


The interview on Monday wasn’t the first time Faulker and Biggs have teamed up to spread pro-Trump misinformation. In March, Biggs claimed during an interview with Faulkner that Trump had been “exonerated from everybody like Comey, like Clapper, the House Intelligence Committee. There’s no collusion there.”

Faulker, who has repeatedly spread pro-Trump misinformation about the Russia investigation, didn’t push back at all on Biggs’ false claims.