The Absurdity of Trump's Autopen Meltdown

President Joe Biden signs a document with his very own hands.Oliver Contreras/White House/Zuma President Donald Trump has a new hobbyhorse: That his predecessor, President Joe Biden, didn't legally grant pardons to people Trump wants to harass because the pardons were signed with an autopen, a device for replicating a signature, rather than by hand. Trump has identified some signature requirement as the one rule presidents must obey. "The'Pardons' that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen," he ranted on Truth Social just after midnight on Monday. "In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!" Trump and his MAGA allies have embraced a lawless approach to the presidency. Trump's executive orders, actions, and legal filings all point to an understanding of the president as far more powerful than previously understood, with king-like powers over the entire executive branch.