President Trump vowed that there will be “hell to pay” in Honduras if election officials tampered with the results of Sunday’s presidential elections — after threatening to cut off U.S. aid to Honduras if his favored candidate doesn’t win.
As of Tuesday afternoon, just over half of the ballots have been counted, and it’s not clear when a final result will be announced.
Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura of the right-wing National Party held a razor-thin lead of just 515 votes over his rival Salvador Nasralla.
Meanwhile, Honduras’s former President Juan Orlando Hernández walked free from a federal prison in West Virginia Monday, after he was granted a pardon by President Trump. He’d been serving a 45-year jail term in the U.S. for cocaine trafficking.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, President Trump was asked about why he would pardon a convicted drug trafficker.
Reporter: “You’ve made so clear how you want to keep drugs out of the U.S.”
President Donald Trump: “Right.”
Reporter: “Can you explain more about why you would pardon a notorious drug trafficker?”
President Donald Trump: “Well, I don’t know who you’re talking about. Which one?”
Reporter: “Juan Orlando Hernández.”
President Donald Trump: “Well, I was told — I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras. They said it was a Biden setup.”
[ SOURCE: DEMOCRACY NOW ]
