Does it have to be specific people? What about just generally that he pledges to pardon Jan. 6 rioters?

He's already announced that he's going to pardon the January 6th rioters. Editing title to indicate they have to be new pardons.

hard to do that without the authority.

He's announcing nominations (if you're being picky) / nominating people (if you're not) during the lame duck; it's certainly within his power to announce that he's going to pardon people when he takes office.

@zax sure. But why lead with something that is going to be extremely unpopular. There is nobody Trump would pardon that is going to be widely lauded and it can only hurt his ability to work with a single seat majority in the house. The January 6 convicts in particular will need to wait IMO. Many other priorities.

@zax like I think Trump saying he will pardon someone is kinda like Biden saying he won’t, we should expect the opposite outcome from what they promise. Promises mean nothing to either of them.

E.g. if Daniel Penny were not being tried in state court I think Trump could very plausible announce he was going to pardon him.