The Associated Press reported this week that President Joe Biden issued 11 pardons and shortened the sentences of another five convicts "to address racial disparities in the justice system."

While Biden recently faced a call to pardon former President Donald Trump, one of Trump's longtime critics railed against the idea. 

Mitt Romney "would have immediately pardoned" Trump

The suggestion that Biden should extend clemency to his predecessor was made earlier this month by Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney.

"Had I been President [Joe] Biden, when the Justice Department brought out indictments, I would have immediately pardoned him," Romney told MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle during an interview on May 15.

“I'd have pardoned President Trump. ... Because it makes me ... the big guy, and the person I pardoned, the little guy.”

— Sen. Mitt Romney says President Biden should have pardoned Donald Trump when the Justice Department indicted him pic.twitter.com/4oNZhhp6F1

— The Recount (@therecount) May 16, 2024

"Why? Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned the little guy," the Utah senator reasoned.

"And, number two, it's not going to get resolved before the election. It’s not going to have an impact before the election. And, frankly, the country doesn't want to have to go through prosecuting a former president," Romney added.

Columnist says Nixon pardon was a mistake

However, Romney's idea didn't go over well with columnist Kimball Shinkoskey, who pushed back on it in an article published by The Lebanon Reporter.

In it, Shinkoskey acknowledged that there is precedent for pardoning a former president, citing the pardon which Gerry Ford granted to Richard Nixon.

Yet the author insisted that Nixon and Trump's cases are not analogous since the former "was a broken man" and "partially repentant."

What's more, Shinkoskey insisted that "Ford set a precedent for an even more disastrous attempt at authoritarian power later on."

Poll found most Americans think charges are politically motivated

He went on to declare that "Trump likely would never have orchestrated Jan. 6 if Nixon had been prosecuted and spent time behind bars."

Shinkoskey also argued that a pardon would do a disservice to voters, writing that they "deserve to know a jury's determination on the moral and ethical stature of the person they might be voting for."

Interestingly, The Hill reported that a poll taken last year shortly after Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents found that 62% of Americans thought the charges were politically motivated.