Donald Trump just pulled off a brilliant move Sunday night, and we need to sit back and appreciate it. Trump literally has the mainstream media exactly where he wants it. By declaring Biden's autopen-signed pardons "void" and not enforceable, he's forced the mainstream to finally address the scandal they've desperately tried to bury.
I have no illusions that anything Biden “signed” with the autopen will be legally declared void. Proving that any one thing was signed with the autopen without his knowledge or consent will be an uphill battle. Trump knows this, but that was never the point. His move was strategic in forcing this humiliating debacle into the spotlight, where the media had no choice but to cover it.
And boy, they took the bait.
“Trump CANNOT legally reverse Biden’s pardons,” MSNBC’s Katie Phang declared on X. “The bigger question is what improper and illegal actions will be taken by Trump’s DOJ and FBI that would fly in the face of those Biden pardons.”
“For those who claimed Joe Biden went too far with his pardons, what do you say now?” Fox News’ resident leftist Jessica Tarlov lamented. “Donald Trump is not a king. He needs to stop trying to act like one.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper is similarly questioning whether Trump has the authority to nullify Biden’s pardons — although he didn’t actually address the issue of whether the pardons were legal because of the autopen issue.
Of course, the view of leftists in the media is that Trump is exceeding his authority, but the fact is that this scandal has now become a national discussion.
For weeks, the liberal press corps played its usual game of "nothing to see here" regarding Biden's use of an autopen to sign critical documents. But Trump's dramatic Sunday announcement changed everything. Suddenly, these same outlets that ignored the story are falling over themselves to "fact check" Trump's authority to void the pardons.
Here's the real kicker: While they're busy "debunking" Trump's declaration, they're inadvertently amplifying the bigger story — Biden's concerning reliance on an autopen and what that reveals about his cognitive state. It's pure political chess, and Trump just called checkmate.
During Monday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended President Trump’s assertion that pardons former President Joe Biden issued to members of the January 6 Committee may be “null and void” if they were signed without his knowledge.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Leavitt on whether White House attorneys had advised Trump that he had the legal authority to revoke a pardon simply because it was signed via autopen. Leavitt responded by shifting focus to Biden’s cognitive state and raising questions about the legitimacy of the pardons themselves.
“The president was begging the question that I think a lot of journalists in this room should be asking,” Leavitt said. “Did the former president of the United States, who I think we can all finally agree was cognitively impaired — I know it took people some time to finally admit that — actually know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?”
Leavitt cited the New York Post report claiming that even some Biden White House officials had raised concerns over whether the president was aware of his legally binding signature being affixed to documents. “Certainly, that would be… perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were signing the president of the United States’ autograph without his consent,” she added.
Collins pushed back, noting that Biden had publicly acknowledged issuing the pardons. Leavitt countered, “But was he aware of his signature being used on every single pardon? That’s a question you should ask the Biden White House.”
When pressed for evidence that Biden was unaware of the signings, Leavitt shot back, “You’re a reporter. You should find out.”
CNN's Kaitlan Collins: Do you have any evidence that Joe Biden didn't know the autopen was being used to sign presidential pardons?@PressSec: You're a reporter. You should find out! pic.twitter.com/deIgtgiSfE
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 17, 2025
This story isn't going away anytime soon. Every time the media tries to dispute Trump's authority to void these pardons, they'll have to explain why he's challenging them in the first place. That means more coverage of Biden's obvious decline and the Democrats' desperate attempts to cover it up.
Well played, Mr. President. Well played.
