The White House has unveiled a new presidential portrait gallery, replacing Joe Biden’s photo with an image of an autopen.
Trump Targets Biden
Donald Trump, even before taking office, claimed that Joe Biden’s aides hid his health condition and made key decisions on his behalf. Trump alleged that Biden rarely signed documents himself, instead using an autopen frequently. He promised to replace Biden’s portrait in the White House with a photo of the autopen.
Autopen Instead of Biden
On September 25, Radio RMF’s correspondent in the U.S., Paweł Żuchowski, announced on social media that the White House had unveiled a new gallery of presidential portraits along the West Wing colonnade. Instead of Biden’s photo, there is now an image of the autopen. The portraits are part of the Hall of Fame, as confirmed by Donald Trump’s assistant and White House communications specialist, Margo Martin.
Biden’s Response
In June, Donald Trump ordered an investigation into Joe Biden’s actions as president. In a note sent to Trump’s advisor and the former attorney general, Trump claimed that certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercised presidential powers. Biden denied these allegations, stating, “Let me be clear: I made decisions during my presidency. I issued pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I did not is laughable and false.” He also called the actions against him a distraction from “ramming through disastrous legislation that slashed basic programs like Medicaid and raised costs for American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-rich and big corporations.”
