Trump ‘Walk of Fame’ mocks Biden with portrait of Autopen
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In the spot for former President Joe Biden is a picture of an autopen signing his name.
PHOTO: WHITEHOUSE/X
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US President Donald Trump’s renovations to the White House – adding gold trim to the Oval Office interiors and new paving stones in the Rose Garden – have largely catered to aesthetic sensibilities he cultivated as he renovated Mar-a-Lago and built his namesake Manhattan tower. But his latest tweak to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue appears to be less about decorating and more about trolling his predecessor.
On Sept 24, White House social media accounts revealed a new “Presidential Walk of Fame” on the Colonnade along the Rose Garden. A series of black-and-white images of former presidents in gold frames were hung on the outdoor wall, with pictures of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama among those visible in the videos.
But in the spot for former President Joe Biden is a picture of an autopen signing his name.
The colonnade, a walkway between the executive residence and West Wing was built originally for President Thomas Jefferson, is among one of the most iconic spaces on the White House campus, and features prominently in the choreography of high-profile visits by dignitaries to the White House.
The photo of the autopens references Mr Trump’s allegations that Mr Biden relied excessively on the devices that replicate a signature instead of signing key documents by hand. While the practice had been in place for decades, Mr Trump has complained about Mr Biden’s use of an autopen; the former president ended his re-election campaign last year amid concerns about his health and fitness for office.
Mr Trump and his allies have regularly claimed that documents purportedly signed by Mr Biden with that device may not be valid, an assertion Mr Trump made again during a press conference in Britain last week, when he claimed that the autopen “was illegally used”.
“He never gave the orders,” Mr Trump said.
In an interview with the New York Times published in July, Mr Biden said he had orally granted all the pardons and commutations he issued at the end of his presidency, saying, “I made every decision”. BLOOMBERG
