"We’re going to shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos"

Why does this guy get a pardon, exactly?

I really try to keep an open mind about almost everything. Humility is an important part of analyzing politics — there’s always stuff that may not make sense on the surface that has a good hidden explanation, or trade-offs that have to be made that go down like harsh medicine but pay off in the long run.

This one is a real head-scratcher though, folks.

“We’re going to shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos — by flooding the United States with cocaine.”

That’s the full quote that was allegedly said by former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez. Now, the allegation was made by a cooperating witness in a drug trafficking trial, and Hernandez denies saying it. So maybe he didn’t actually say it.

What we do know is the U.S. government convicted Hernandez of helping funnel ungodly amounts of drugs across the U.S. border to Americans, who were killing themselves with them — and that investigation spanned multiple American administrations, including the first Trump DOJ.

So why did President Trump burst through America’s living room wall like the Kool-Aid Man during Thanksgiving week to dangle a pardon for Hernandez, seemingly out of nowhere?

I can’t figure it out. But here’s what we do know: