The View hosts slam Trump pardoning ‘tax cheats and frauds’ Todd and Julie Chrisley

The President has given the imprisoned reality stars a full and unconditional pardon

The View hosts lambasted Donald Trump Wednesday for pardoning “tax cheats and frauds.”

The President this week signed full pardons for former reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who have been in prison since they were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. He additionally signed a full and unconditional pardon for tax cheat Paul Walczak.

Addressing the “eyebrow-raising” pardons on Wednesday’s episode of the ABC talk show, co-host Whoopi Goldberg questioned whether people are going to have a problem with the news or if they’re “already numb to this.”

“Well, according to this administration, if you are a reality star with a lot of money, and a tax cheat, and you commit fraud, then that’s good. We’re gonna give you a pardon,” co-host Joy Behar said. “But poor people on Medicaid or food stamps, according to this administration, those are the real moochers in the country, and that they have to be taken off of healthcare or food stamps.

“People in America need to understand what’s going on. That’s what’s going on,” Behar added. “Somebody like this guy, Chrisley, whatever his name is. I never saw the show; I’ve only seen clips where he’s running around being rich — he gets let off the hook. But somebody, like anybody that we might know who needs help, doesn’t get help from this administration.”

Co-host Ana Navarro stepped in to answer Goldberg’s original question, saying: “I sure as hell do [have a problem with this]. I think one of the things we as Americans have to do is not normalize this and not get accustomed to this, and not allow this to continue to happen. Because this is not normal, this is honest, this is not ethical.

Whoopi Goldberg addressed the eyebrow-raising pardons of the Chrisleys on ‘The View’ (ABC/Getty)

“Basically, there’s a huge ‘for sale’ sign on the lawn of the White House, and if you are a supporter, and if you are a donor, then you can buy pardons,” Navarro argued. “This is not just coming in a vacuum, right? This is coming at the same time he’s accepting a $400 million jet from the Qataris, at the same time that he has a crypto-grift.”

Todd and Julie Chrisley formerly fronted their show, Chrisley Knows Best, from 2014 to 2023, which followed their family’s luxurious, multimillion-dollar lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

The couple were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans in 2022. Prosecutors said the couple walked away from their responsibility for repayment when Todd declared bankruptcy.

They were also both found guilty of tax evasion and conspiring to defraud the IRS, while Julie was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Julie was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, and Todd got 12 years behind bars. The couple was also ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution. The couple have been appealing their case since being sentenced in November 2022.

Speaking over the phone to the couple’s 27-year-old daughter, Savannah, on Wednesday, Trump called her parents’ imprisonment “a terrible thing.”

“But it’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t know them, but give them my regards.”

Savannah later shared her reaction to the news in an Instagram video, saying: “I still don’t believe it’s real. I am freaking out. The fact that the President called me. President Trump didn’t just commute their sentences, he gave them a full, unconditional pardon. So for that, I am forever grateful.”