'What a joke': Backlash erupts online as Trump pardons reality TV stars
President Donald Trump’s latest presidential action is drawing fierce backlash after he granted full pardons to reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were serving prison sentences for fraud and tax evasion.
The couple, best known for starring in the reality TV series “Chrisley Knows Best,” were convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 12 and 7 years in federal prison, respectively, the Washington Post reported. The White House on Tuesday confirmed the couple’s full pardons.
“Your parents are going to be free and clean and I hope we’re going to do it by tomorrow,” Trump said in a phone call to the Chrisleys’ children from the Oval Office. “They were given pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing,” the president added.
The move quickly triggered online backlash.
“Trump just pardoned TV personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley who conspired to defraud Atlanta-area banks out of $30 million in fraudulent loans. In Trump’s America, crimes are celebrated and prison sentences are cut short,” Democratic influencer Harry Sisson wrote on X. “Actual insanity.”
Sisson added in a follow-up post that the Chrisleys’ pardon comes after Trump also pardoned “a corrupt Virginia sheriff who took over $75,000 in bribes, and “a man convicted of serious tax crimes, whose mom donated $1 million to Trump and worked on his campaigns.”
“Blatant corruption,” he concluded.
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“Trump just pardoned reality show couple Todd and Julie Chrisley,” the popular X account, Call to Activism, posted on X. “Meanwhile, he's deporting people without due process. What a joke.”
“Oh, Trump’s going to pardon the Chrisleys? I’m stunned,” Washington Post columnist Philip Bump told his Bluesky followers. “Who could h—"
“Another corrupt pardon,” Republicans against Trump declared. “What a complete disgrace,” Blue Georgia concluded on X.
Lawfare reporter Anna Bower added some additional legal context.
“Notably: The Chrisleys were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2019, during the first Trump administration,” she wrote on Bluesky. “The Trump-nominated U.S. attorney was BJay Pak. In Jan. 2021, Pak was forced to resign after Trump became convinced he wasn’t doing enough to investigate purported election fraud in GA.”
"For context: The Chrisleys are well-known Trump supporters," Democratic strategist Ally Sammarco told her X followers.