Photo: POTUS/Instagram
The White House unveiled a portrait of former President Joe Biden on Wednesday, depicting an autopen for display in its Presidential Walk of Fame gallery.
The gallery, located along the West Wing Colonnade, features framed portraits of past presidents. The Biden addition drew immediate attention for its unusual subject matter.
An autopen is a robotic arm attached to a pen that replicates a signature. Past presidents have relied on the device for routine correspondence, though its use for official actions has been debated.
President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of Biden’s reliance on the device, raising questions about pardons issued during Biden’s final years in office. Trump has long argued that Biden was not aware of many of the pardons, claiming the practice is constitutional.
“It was illegally used. He never gave the orders,” Trump told reporters earlier this month while in the United Kingdom. “He never told them what to do. And I guess the only one he signed, or one of the few he signed, was the pardon for his son.”
According to congressional testimony reported earlier this year, Neera Tanden, Biden’s former domestic policy chief, said she had the authority to authorize autopen signatures but did not know who within Biden’s circle gave final approval.
Records show Biden’s pardons included members of his own family, including brothers James Biden and Francis Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens and his sister-in-law Sara Jones Biden. Biden has defended his decisions, insisting that he “made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations” while in office.
“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 said in his statement.
The unveiling comes as Trump continues to shape the gallery’s design. He recently relocated portraits of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to less prominent locations.