Pardoning More January 6th Criminals is the Greater Priority
by Mark M. Bello
While the GOP shamelessly claims to stand for “freedom,” “opportunity,” and “hope,” its leaders refuse to guarantee the basics—food for children, health insurance for families, and a functioning democracy.
We now have a president who lobbied all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States to block full payments of food-assistance benefits (SNAP) for millions of Americans. And we have a Speaker of the House who says he “won’t promise anybody anything” when asked if he’ll hold a vote to continue Affordable Care Act subsidies that make health insurance affordable for working families.
You read that correctly. The president of the United States and the Speaker of the House have publicly declared that feeding the hungry and keeping citizens insured are not priorities they’ll protect. If that doesn’t trouble you, it should.
Feed the Hungry? No. Pardon the Guilty? Absolutely.
While the Trump administration was lobbying the Supreme Court to block SNAP benefits—cutting off food assistance for millions—the President was busy issuing pardons to the very architects of the 2020 election subversion plot: Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Mark Meadows, and several others.
Consider the contrast:
Ordinary families struggling to feed their children were told to tighten their belts, while the men and women who tried to overthrow American democracy were being absolved of their crimes. The symbolism is chilling. Starve the poor; reward the loyal. It’s not governance—it’s feudalism in a red hat.
SNAP & Food-Assistance: A Manufactured Crisis
In November 2025, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block an order requiring full payment of SNAP benefits. The Court allowed the freeze to stand—leaving tens of millions of Americans at risk of missing food aid during the holidays.
Food banks went into “disaster-response mode.” Lines stretched for blocks. And while ordinary citizens scrambled to find their next meal, the President’s legal team celebrated another “victory” over what they called “welfare dependency.”
This wasn’t about fiscal responsibility. It was about ideology—the belief that poverty is a moral failing, that empathy is weakness, and that cruelty somehow builds character.
Health Care Subsidies: The Vote That Might Never Come
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson publicly declined to guarantee a vote on extending premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. His exact words:
“I’m not promising anybody anything… I’m going to let this process play out.”
Those tax credits keep health insurance affordable for millions of Americans.
Without them, premiums skyrocket, families lose coverage, and the poorest are left with nothing.
Once again, we see the same governing philosophy: withhold basic protections, then blame the victims.
The Broader Pattern: A Party at War with Compassion
Add all this up:
- The President fights to block food aid while pardoning election conspirators.
- The Speaker refuses to ensure health coverage continues.
- Inflation, instability, and cruelty are disguised as “tough choices.”
- Military deployments in American cities, violence from ICE, and whispers of authoritarian intent spread across America.
- And while all this happens, a Steve Bannon interview airs, suggesting that a plot is in the works that will keep Trump in office beyond 2028.
This is not conservative governance or small government. It’s a movement built on fear, vengeance, and authoritarian control.
Voters Must Remember This in November 2026
Elections aren’t only about policy—they’re about moral vision.
- Do you believe it is okay for a child to go hungry in America?
- Do you believe that affordable health care is a right and not a privilege?
- Do you believe that democracy depends on the rule of law?.
When you cast your vote in November 2026, ask yourself:
Do I want a government that punishes the vulnerable and rewards the corrupt?
Or do I want one that values decency, equality, and truth?
The Bottom Line
Under the current Republican leadership, we see an unmistakable pattern:
Feed the powerful. Starve the poor. Pardon the guilty. Threaten the free.
A nation cannot survive on that diet of cruelty and corruption.
So when you hear the excuses—“tough love,” “personal responsibility,” “fiscal restraint”—remember what this really means: Don’t feed the hungry or heal the sick. Do not, under any circumstances, uphold democracy.
We have a choice in 2026.
Exercise it wisely and change the course of America, before it is too late.
Mark M. Bello is an attorney and author of 9 Zachary Blake Legal Thrillers and other legal themed novels and children’s books. For more information, please visit https://www.markmbello.com