President Trump issued a post-mortem pardon for famous suffragette Susan B. Anthony on the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The pardon was for the crime of voting as a woman, in 1872, which cost her a fine of $100.
Mainstream Media’s Response
The New York Times was one of the first outlets to denounce Trump’s pardon, referring to Susan B. Anthony as an “increasingly divisive figure” due to her anti-abortion stance.
The outlet cited the fact that Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the pro-life political group the Susan B. Anthony List, was present during President Trump’s announcement as further proof of the divisiveness of this decision.
The New York Times also used the news coverage of the pardon to get in an attack on President Trump. The outlet stated that Trump “has repeatedly been accused of sexual harassment or assault.”
They did not provide the context that the majority of these accusations were made while Trump was running for the presidency as a Republican, not in prior years when he was assumed to be a Democrat and was widely popular with the Left. None of these accusations have resulted in convictions.
White House reporter for Politico, Gabby Orr, attempted to politicize the pardon. She argued that the SBA List is connected to White House officials, and headed by Trump donors.
Twitter and Media Storm
Left-wing Twitter was immediately inundated with charges of racism towards the late Susan B. Anthony, dismissing her friendships with civil rights leaders Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass.
New York‘s lieutenant governor, Democrat Kathy Hochul, also joined in on condemning Trump’s actions. Ignoring the fact that it was her state which charged Anthony for the crime, Hochul stated: “I was deeply troubled to learn that Trump went ahead and treated her like a criminal.”
Trump’s Response
President Trump had originally announced that he would be pardoning someone “very, very important” but did not reveal who until August 18th.
At the event honoring the 19th Amendment, President Trump stated that Anthony “got a pardon for a lot of other women. And she didn’t put her name on the list.”
The president has also voiced support for a bill introduced by Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat from Colorado, that would create a 22-foot monument dedicated to the suffragists and the 19th Amendment. The monument would feature depictions of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Harriot Stanton Blatch, Ida B. Wells and Alice Paul.