JD Vance says people who committed violence at the Capitol riot 'obviously' shouldn't be pardoned

As anticipation rises that President-elect Donald Trump will pardon his supporters who were charged ? and in some cases convicted ? in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Vice President-elect JD Vance on Sunday drew a line on the signature campaign promise.

"If you protested peacefully on January the 6th, and you've had Merrick Garland's Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned," Vance told “Fox News Sunday.” "If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn't be pardoned."

Vance added that there is "a little bit of a gray area there," though he didn't immediately explain what acts or charges that could include. USA TODAY has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

Trump has pledged to issue pardons for people prosecuted in the deadly Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol "very quickly." However, he has also said there could be "some exceptions" for "radical, crazy" behavior during the attack.

In a Dec. 8 interview on "Meet the Press," Trump told host Kristen Welker that the pardons could cover people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers, explaining "they had no choice" because the justice system is "very nasty."

Vance suggested on the Sunday show that he and the president-elect are on the same page about striking a balance in implementing one of Trump's central campaign promises.

"We're very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law and there are a lot of people, we think, in the wake of January the 6th, who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that," Vance said.

As of August, nearly 1,500 people have been charged in the U.S. for their alleged roles in the attack, according to the Justice Department. Nearly 900 had pleaded guilty to a federal charge, and nearly 950 had been sentenced.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: JD Vance says violent Jan. 6 Capitol rioters shouldn't be pardoned