South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said those facing Jan. 6 charges should be evaluated for pardons on a case-by-case basis, adding that she does not want to see attacks like that happen again.
NBC’s Peter Alexander asked Noem on “Meet the Press” whether she thinks that all of those facing charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol should be pardoned. She said, “Each of those situations needs to be looked at separately.”
“What I have been very clear about is that we don’t want to see another January 6th again. Nobody in this country wants to see another day like that again,” she said.
“And I believe that Donald Trump, when he comes back to the White House and is in charge of this country, we’re going to have incredible opportunities to show that people in this country will be safer, that we’ll have law and order back in our streets,” she added.
Trump has repeatedly floated pardons for the Jan. 6 defendants if he wins a second term for the White House. He said in March that one of his first actions while in the Oval Office would be freeing people imprisoned for participating in the riot at the Capitol, describing them as “hostages.”
Alexander repeatedly asked Noem whether she agrees with the former president in pardoning those who participated in the attack. She emphasized that it would be “based on his prerogative and his decision when he looks at those cases.”
“Each of those individuals needs to be looked at separately, as far as what their role was and what was happening in that situation,” she said.