White House Under Fire for Displaying Autopen Image Instead of Biden Portrait in New Presidential Gallery
The White House has drawn criticism following the inauguration of a new grand presidential gallery, which showcases portraits of all former Presidents in chronological order, with one notable absence. Instead of a portrait depicting President Joe Biden, who concluded his four-year tenure as Commander-in-Chief in January, the space is occupied by an image of an autopen. This perceived slight is tied to President Trump and his staff’s long-standing concerns regarding the mechanical signing device, which he has labeled among the “most perilous” scandals in American history.
After a video circulated by a White House staffer displayed the black and white portraits of past Presidents adorning a West Wing wall, culminating dramatically on the autopen image, Chris Meagher, who served as deputy press secretary during the Biden Administration, voiced his disapproval of the White House’s priorities.
“Continually impressed at how laser-focused the White House continues to be on Trump’s ‘Day One’ promise to lower prices and all the steps they’re taking to make life easier for families struggling to get by,” he .
Jane Fleming Kleeb, who holds positions as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, also condemned the action.
“President Joe Biden gave decades of his life to public service and did so with compassion and strength,” she . “Replacing Biden’s portrait with a picture of a pen? You know farmers just lost more markets to Argentina right? We have bigger issues.”
The White House’s move also sparked further indignation from international observers. Alistair Campbell, formerly a Downing Street press secretary, described the act as “sick” and “anti-American.”
Trump had previously hinted at Biden’s exclusion from his presidential gallery. During an interview with the Daily Caller in August, the President stated his intention to hang a “Biden Autopen” to symbolize Biden’s presidency.
In June, Trump called for an investigation into Biden and his aides, alleging that the latter concealed Biden’s “serious cognitive decline” and misused Presidential signing authority.
In a letter addressed to the Attorney General, the Counsel for President Trump asserted that “it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen,” characterizing it as one of the “most dangerous” scandals in U.S. history.
Biden, who revealed his diagnosis with “aggressive” prostate cancer in May, dismissed the accusations as “ridiculous and false” in a statement responding to Trump’s claims.
“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden . “This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.”
Autopens have been utilized by Presidents throughout U.S. history. Their initial use is believed to date back to Thomas Jefferson after the device was patented in 1803. While the autopen has undergone technological advancements over the past two centuries, it has also been employed by other Presidents, including Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, during their terms in the Oval Office.
Ian Sams, a former spokesperson in the Biden White House, provided testimony to the House Committee on Oversight as part of their inquiry in August. Sams stated during his testimony that he met with the former President in person only twice, in addition to one phone call and one virtual meeting.
Following Sams’ testimony, James Comer, a Republican Representative for Kentucky and chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, pledged to continue pushing “for answers to ensure full transparency for the American people.”
“Rather than drawing conclusions from firsthand experience, Mr. Sams received much of his direction from the White House Counsel and Biden’s inner circle. Mr. Sams repeatedly made broad public claims about the President’s cognitive condition, but he was not in a position to make these claims based on such limited contact,” Comer asserted.