Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) torched President Donald Trump on Tuesday for pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández.Hernández, who was sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in helping drug traffickers move 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S., was released from prison on Monday.In a floor speech, Schumer called out the president for hypocrisy amid the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign against drug-trafficking networks and its unprecedented military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. “We all know that Trump does a lot of hypocritical things — almost every day there is hypocrisy oozing from the White House — but pardoning one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers is egregious, shameful and dangerous, even for Donald Trump,” Schumer said.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump over his political agenda as well as many of his policies. Getty ImagesThe New York Democrat also called the move an “utter mockery” of Trump’s “supposed desire to root out all drug trafficking.” “You can’t have it both ways, Mr. President. You can’t talk a big game about hunting down drug traffickers, and getting drugs off our streets, and then turn around and free a dangerous, convicted drug lord,” Schumer said. Trump announced his decision to pardon Hernández in a Truth Social post on Friday.“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernanadez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” he wrote.Then on Sunday, Trump refused to accept accountability for pardoning Hernández and attempted to shift the blame onto his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.“Many of the people of Honduras said that it was a Biden setup,” Trump told reporters. “I looked at the facts, and I agreed with them.” Watch Schumer’s speech below. .@SenSchumer on drug boat destruction and freeing former Honduran president "You can't have it both ways Mr. President. You can't talk of big game of hunting down drug traffickers and getting drugs off our streets and then turn around and free a dangerous convicted drug lord." pic.twitter.com/KkOdaGh47D— CSPAN (@cspan) December 2, 2025Close