Clinton said, “In addition—in addition, he stole very important information that has unfortunately fallen into a lot of the wrong hands. So I don’t think he should be brought home without facing the music.” in a debate. Not sure about Trump recently, but in 2013 he was very against Snowden and referenced execution as a punishment for him several times.
What a presidential candidate says about pardons during their campaign should be taken with a huge grain of salt. The reason they wait until the end of both of their terms is so that the decision does not affect their support from voters or any potential bi-partisan support.
