NEED TO KNOW
Donald Trump is revealing where he currently stands on potentially pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Months after telling reporters during a White House press briefing that he would “certainly look at the facts” when it came to considering a pardon amid the music mogul’s then-trial, the president, 79, revealed on Friday, Aug. 1, that a pardon isn’t likely to come for Combs, 55.
Trump’s latest comments arrive nearly a month after Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges and convicted of lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution following his high-profile federal trial in New York City.
“Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent,” Trump told Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty. “I don’t know what they do, still in jail or something. But he was celebrating a victory, but I guess it wasn’t as good of a victory.”
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Trump then elaborated on his personal ties to Combs, who he had been photographed with during several events dating back to the late ’90s.
As he explained, he was “very friendly” with the Bad Boy Records boss at one point. “I got along with him great. Seemed like a nice guy. I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile. … It’s hard,” Trump said.
“We’re human beings. We don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, right? But when you knew someone and you were fine and then you run for office and he made some terrible statements. So, I don’t know. It’s more difficult,” he added. “Makes it more, I’m being honest, makes it more difficult to do.”
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Among Combs’ past comments about Trump, he previously said in an interview with Charlamagne tha God ahead of the 2020 presidential election that, following Trump’s first term, he did a “great job of rattling America.”
“Seeing what’s going on, White men like Trump need to be banished. That way of thinking, it’s real dangerous. This man literally threatened the lives of us and our families about going to vote. ‘Stand back and stand by,’ ” he said, adding that “the No. 1 priority is to get Trump out of office.”
Speaking with Newsmax this week, Trump was asked if his answer was “more likely a no” when it came to a potential Combs pardon. “I would say so,” he said.
Elsewhere during the segment, the president addressed talk of potential pardons for Ghislaine Maxwell and Rep. George Santos, reiterating for both that he’s “allowed” or has “the right to” to pardon either.
As for Combs, the producer will be sentenced on Oct. 3 for his two prostitution convictions following the nearly two-month-long trial as he now remains incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. The government is seeking to sentence him to between 51 and 63 months in jail, while his defense is recommending a 21 to 27 month sentence.
Trump previously told reporters in May that he hadn’t spoken with Combs for “years” and would “certainly look at the facts” in his case when asked about a pardon, according to ABC News.
“If I think someone was mistreated it wouldn’t matter whether they like me or don’t,” he said at the time.
