FACT CHECK: Did Woodrow Wil­son Par­don A Broth­er-In-Law Named Hunter deButts?

Posted in Economy  •  Published by
FACT CHECK: Did Woodrow Wilson Pardon A Brother-In-Law Named Hunter deButts?

“The View” co-host Ana Navar­ro-Cár­de­nas claimed in a post shared on X that for­mer Pres­i­dent Woodrow Wil­son par­doned a broth­er-in-law named “Hunter deButts.”

Ver­dict: False

There is no evi­dence of Wil­son hav­ing a broth­er-in-law by this name.

Fact Check: 

Pres­i­dent Joe Biden par­doned his son, Hunter, after he pre­vi­ous­ly pledged that he wouldn’t, accord­ing to the Asso­ci­at­ed Press. Before the par­don, Hunter Biden faced a poten­tial prison sen­tence for fed­er­al felony gun and tax con­vic­tions, the out­let report­ed.

Navar­ro-Cár­de­nas made a Dec. 2 X post claim­ing that Wil­son par­doned a broth­er-in-law named Hunter deButts. “Woodrow Wil­son par­doned his broth­er-in-law, Hunter deButts,” the post’s cap­tion reads in part. It goes on to men­tion Bill Clinton’s par­don of his broth­er, Roger, and for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s par­don of father-in-law Charles Kush­n­er. (RELATED: Can Bri­an Kemp Par­don Don­ald Trump?)

There is no evi­dence Wil­son had a broth­er-in-law who had this name, how­ev­er. Wil­son was mar­ried to Ellen Wil­son from 1885 to her death in 1914, then mar­ried Edith Wil­son in 1915, accord­ing to Bri­tan­ni­ca. Ellen Wil­son had a sis­ter and two broth­ers. Her broth­ers were named Isaac Stock­ton Kei­th Axson and Edward Williams Axson, accord­ing to the Nation­al First Ladies’ Library.

Edith Wil­son was the sev­enth of eleven chil­dren, whose names can be found on the same archive, none of which being “Hunter deButts.”

Navar­ro-Cár­de­nas made a fol­low-up post with a screen­shot show­ing that the AI tool Chat­G­PT claimed Wil­son par­doned a broth­er in law named Hunter deButts.