St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board - St. Louis Post-Dispatch (TNS)
President-elect Donald Trump has spouted off about his various authoritarian fantasies so often and for so long that it's easy to overlook it when he breaks dangerous new rhetorical ground. Such a moment came Sunday when, during his first formal televised interview since winning the Nov. 5 presidential election, Trump said he believes members of Congress should be jailed for investigating his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
As always, it's important that responsible leaders resist the urge to counter Trump's norm-shattering inclinations by shattering them further. That's why President Joe Biden should reject calls to preemptively pardon members of Congress and others who might face persecution under the coming Trump administration. Instead, they must place their faith in the ability of the American justice system to block those and other unconstitutional Trumpian stunts that may lie ahead.
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