DEMOCRATIC PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE Joe Biden has said that, if he wins the presidency, he would not use his power to pardon Donald Trump or stop any investigations of him and his associates.

“It is not something the president is entitled to do, to direct a prosecution or decide to drop a case,” Biden said on MSNBC in an appearance where he also appeared on a split screen with one of the women tipped to be his choice for vice president.

“It’s a dereliction of duty.”

The former vice president made his statement in response to a voter who asked him on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show, The Last Word, whether Biden would “commit to not pulling a Gerald Ford in giving Donald Trump a pardon under the pretence of healing the nation”.

Biden responded, “I commit”, before offering a more lengthy explanation of his view that the president must allow the Justice Department to operate without interference.

Ford became president in 1974 when Richard Nixon resigned under the threat of impeachment.

He later pardoned his predecessor before any criminal charges related to the Watergate burglary could be filed.

Ford went on to lose the 1976 presidential election.