At first glance, President Trump replacing Joe Biden’s presidential portrait with an image of an autopen may come off as a political joke. But this is no laughing matter. The symbolism exposes a deeper truth: the Office of the Presidency under Joe Biden was not led by Biden at all. It was compromised, handed over to unelected, unknown individuals who operated in the name of a mentally-compromised president.
This is not satire. This is reality.
The Autopen Presidency
The “autopen scandal,” as President Trump has called it, represents one of the most significant constitutional betrayals in modern American history. According to The New York Times, Biden did not personally review or approve many of the categorical pardons issued under his administration. Instead, his staff made the decisions, refined lists, and then used an autopen, a mechanical signature device, to enact them.
Let that sink in: The President of the United States wasn’t the one exercising the presidential pardon power. Unknown aides did the work, and a machine signed Biden’s name.
This wasn’t just a shortcut; it was a fundamental break with the separation of powers and the rule of law. The pardon power is one of the most sacred, exclusive authorities vested in the presidency. Yet under Biden, it was outsourced. If unelected staffers can wield the pen of the president, then the Republic is no longer governed by the people’s elected leader; it is run by a faceless bureaucratic cabal.
A Nation at Risk
The implications extend far beyond pardons. If Biden’s staff felt comfortable automating his constitutional duties in this area, where else did they assume presidential authority? Foreign policy? National security? Trade negotiations? The chain of command matters in a constitutional republic. A president incapable of executing the responsibilities of office leaves the nation vulnerable, not just politically, but militarily and diplomatically.
Imagine adversaries like China, Russia, or Iran recognizing that America’s Commander-in-Chief was not truly at the helm. What message does it send to the world when America’s leader cannot be trusted to read, understand, or authorize decisions without a machine standing in?
Complicity at the Highest Levels
Even more damning is the complicity of Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden’s Cabinet—figures like Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Janet Yellen, Merrick Garland, and Alejandro Mayorkas. Each one swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. Each one had the authority to act under the 25th Amendment if the President was unable to fulfill his duties.
Instead, they became co-conspirators in a cover-up. They chose party over principle, power over patriotism. Harris, in particular, had both the moral and constitutional responsibility to step in; yet, she stood by, content to enjoy the trappings of office while unelected aides quietly assumed control of the presidency.
This was not negligence; it was willful dereliction of duty. The Cabinet members were not simply bystanders. They were active participants in preserving the illusion of a functioning presidency while knowing full well that Biden was incapable. By refusing to act, they allowed the executive branch to be hijacked by operatives whose names never appeared on a ballot.
That is not loyalty. That is betrayal. Harris and Biden’s Cabinet undermined the very system they were sworn to uphold.
The Portrait of Truth
This is why Trump’s installation of the “Presidential Walk of Fame” in the Rose Garden, with Biden’s spot represented by an autopen, is more than political theater. It is a symbolic reminder that for four years, America’s presidency was reduced to a rubber stamp. It wasn’t Biden leading the country. It was staffers behind the scenes, using the president’s signature as a mask for their power, with the full knowledge and complicity of his Vice President and Cabinet.
The Democrats didn’t just compromise Joe Biden’s presidency; they compromised American democracy itself.
The Media’s Role in Normalizing the Crisis
Equally alarming as the autopen itself and the Cabinet’s dereliction of duty is the role of the mainstream media. Rather than investigate the unprecedented outsourcing of presidential authority, most outlets either downplayed the story or framed it as a trivial “quirk” of bureaucracy.
Major networks and newspapers presented the autopen as a routine procedure, treating the mechanical signing of Biden’s name as a technicality rather than a constitutional emergency. Coverage rarely questioned why the Vice President and Cabinet failed to invoke the 25th Amendment or scrutinized the broader implications for national security.
By normalizing a presidency run by staffers and a machine, the media effectively enabled the cover-up. Their reporting, or lack thereof, gave legitimacy to actions that should have raised alarms across the country. Instead of holding elected officials accountable, much of the press became a complicit observer, reinforcing the narrative that it was “business as usual” in the White House.
The autopen scandal is not just a failure of leadership—it is a failure of oversight, with the media serving as an unintentional partner in undermining the American people’s trust in their government.
Bottom Line: Not a Joke, but a Warning
Some will scoff. Some will dismiss the autopen as routine or inconsequential. But the presidency is not paperwork. It is the highest office in the land, entrusted with decisions that can alter the course of history. By allowing unelected aides to usurp Biden’s constitutional role, and by allowing his Cabinet and Vice President to abdicate their duty under the 25th Amendment, the Democrats crossed a line that should alarm every American, regardless of party.
Trump’s symbolic replacement of Biden’s portrait with an autopen should not elicit laughter. It should prompt us to pause, reflect, and acknowledge the fragility of a system that was nearly lost to bureaucratic convenience, political cowardice, and constitutional betrayal.
Because if the office of the presidency can be automated, ignored, or hijacked, then democracy itself has already been compromised.
We are so screwed.
— Steve
