President says he will pardon Susan B. Anthony
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday said that he would pardon Susan B. Anthony, the women’s suffragist who was arrested after voting illegally in 1872 and charged a $100 fine, as he tried to appeal to female voters on the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, giving them the right to vote.
The pardon appeared to be an effort to distract from the Democratic National Convention and narrow the historically large gender gap that has him trailing Joe Biden in the White House race.
“She was never pardoned. Did you know that? She was never pardoned,” Trump said. “What took so long?”
Trump teased the pardon as he traveled on
Air Force One on Monday, telling reporters he was going to erase the conviction of someone “very, very important.”
Anthony was tried for illegally voting, and protested the fine that she was charged.
“She was guilty for voting,” Trump said, “and we’re going to be signing a full and complete pardon.”
Unlike other pardons that the president has given, Anthony is not someone whose work Trump has spoken of either in his campaign or during his presidency.
She is also an increasingly divisive figure, adopted by antiabortion forces and criticized for relegating Black suffragists to the sidelines. On Tuesday, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an antiabortion political group, and Cleta
Mitchell, an attorney who represents conservative groups, were in attendance as Trump made his announcement.
He has pardoned or granted clemency to a number of people he personally knows or for people whose cases resonate with him, such as the former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, who was serving a prison sentence related to conviction on corruption charges. Trump recently granted clemency to his longtime political adviser, Roger Stone, who was convicted on several charges stemming from the investigation into possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. The pardon for Anthony would be the 26th of his presidency.
Trump, who has repeatedly been accused of sexual harassment or assault and who has often made degrading comments about women, is facing a deep gender gap in his campaign against Biden.