When it was announced on Sunday that, despite his promises not to, Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, there was some outrage from the right. Some of them said he was a “liar” and were “shocked” by the president’s decision to pardon his son for relatively minor charges related to tax crimes and putting false information on an application for a gun.

I wonder where these loud voices were when Trump pardoned people charged with more serious offenses and those who worked in his administration that could’ve held him accountable for his actions while in office. We should hope they retain their distaste for lying and continue to speak out against it, after the next administration takes office. Pardons are selective, but accountability shouldn’t be.

Biden’s bold decision also upset some Democrats, who were surprised by the president’s about-face on the pardoning. We get that. Democrats project an image of a political party that has a respect for rules and tradition and Biden’s decision may not be in line with that image. However, in this case, being bold and prioritizing action over tradition got the job done.