It would be laughable if it weren’t so galling. Donald Trump granted full pardons to Todd and Julie Chrisley, the disgraced stars of Chrisley Knows Best. Hopefully, they will take their obnoxious syrupy phoniness and go hide somewhere.
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If you don’t know, and even if you don’t care, as a refresher, the couple was convicted in 2022 for defrauding banks out of over $30 million and dodging taxes, all while flaunting a lavish, barf-inducing lifestyle on national television. Todd was sentenced to 12 years and Julie to seven, along with a $17.8 million restitution bill. Now, thanks to Trump, they’re free.
If this doesn’t piss you off, then you must have a high tolerance for overt and shameless criminal behavior.
And here’s the rub about the Chrisleys. They aren’t just reality stars. They are self-styled paragons of conservative Christian virtue, - blah! They’ve marketed themselves to red-state America as a wholesome, God-fearing family. They just want you to pay no never mind to their sheer deviance, i.e. multiple cases of wire fraud and hidden accounts.
Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, took the stage at the 2024 Republican National Convention to paint her felonious parents as victims of a political witch hunt, claiming they were targeted for their Christian beliefs. Of course they were. I’m sure prosecutors ignored the millions her parents pilfered opting to charge them for their hypocritical belief in God.
The Christleys’ christianity was a convenient narrative, one that played well in a party obsessed with martyrdom and allergic to accountability. They were mimicking Trump’s woe-is-me, I’m being charged to protect you.
But seriously, this wasn’t a case of religious persecution. It was a case of garden-variety white-collar crime committed by rich white people who thought they were above the law. And now, they kind of are. Because Trump really cares only about the plight of the rich. If you haven’t learned that by now, you haven’t been paying attention.
What makes this all the more grotesque is the context. The presidential pardon is one of the most sweeping and unchecked powers of the executive branch, designed by the Founders as a tool for mercy and national reconciliation. The last thing they intended was for it to be a get-out-of-jail-free card for the well-connected and famous.
Alexander Hamilton defended the pardon power in Federalist No. 74, calling it “an act of grace and humanity,” meant to temper justice with compassion.What Trump has done is turn it into yet another transactional weapon, this time aimed squarely at decency.
Trump has already dipped into the reality TV cesspool for political allies, and it’s not hard to imagine more reality stars lining up for their golden ticket.
First, in February, Trump granted a full pardon to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who had been convicted of corruption charges, including attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat. This followed Trump's 2020 commutation of Blagojevich's 14-year sentence. Trump described the conviction as a "terrible injustice" and praised Blagojevich as a "very nice person," despite bipartisan criticism that the pardon undermined efforts to combat political corruption.
Blagojevich was a contestant on Trump’s The Apprentice, so that naturally qualifies you for a pardon.
I’m sure Jen Shah from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is changing her party affiliation to Republican and writing love letters to Trump as we speak. She is currently serving a 6.5-year sentence for running a nationwide telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of elderly and vulnerable people. Shah’s crimes were predatory and cruel, and they seem tailor-made for the Trump redemption playbook.
That, and she is flashy, fraudulent, and camera-ready, which makes me predict that she’s pivoting to MAGA martyrdom to get her free pass to Mar-a-Lago..
And nothing says flashy and fraudulent like Teresa Giudice of Real Housewives of New Jersey fame. She served 11 months in prison for bankruptcy and mail fraud. Though not yet pardoned, she’s certainly hovering near Trump’s orbit, and her crimes are practically a résumé.
Finally, there are Luann de Lesseps of The Real Housewives of New York, who was arrested for disorderly intoxication and battery of a police officer but avoided jail time due to a plea deal, and Stephanie Pratt of The Hills. She was arrested for shoplifting over $1,300 worth of merchandise from Neiman Marcus and pleaded guilty to second-degree theft, then later picked up a DUI, for which she pleaded not guilty and went to rehab . Don’t be surprised if Trump rolls out pardons for them too, like V.I.P. bottle service for felons with fan bases.
Because why stop at the Chrisleys? There are so many white-collar, white-privileged reality stars, and those who are just white-privileged, just waiting for their own absolution from Trump. Each one of them ready to star in the next MAGA Redemption Tour.
It’s not just that these pardons mock the very idea of justice. It’s that they spit in the face of everyday working-class Americans who know that if they bilked a bank for even $30,000, let alone $30 million, they’d be lucky to see sunlight again before Medicare kicked in.
And Trump’s base? The folks who chant “Lock her up” and “Drain the swamp”? This should be a slap in the face. The movement built on grievance and the supposed betrayal of the working man has now become a backstage pass for grifters, influencers, and reality TV millionaires to dodge the consequences the rest of us would never escape.
The only swamp Trump seems interested in draining is the jailhouse that’s filled with white-collar celebrities.
In the end, the presidential pardon is being wielded not as a solemn constitutional remedy but as a perverse kind of ratings bump. It’s being used like a casting decision by a man who still thinks he’s running
The Apprentice. And now “You’re pardoned” has replaced “You’re fired.”
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