WASHINGTON — The White House unveiled its newly installed Presidential Hall of Fame on Wednesday, displaying the official portraits of all former presidents — with the exception of former President Joe Biden, who was replaced with a photo of his autopen signature.
The portraits are displayed side by side in golden picture frames, walking through the presidential chronology. But nestled between President Donald Trump’s two portraits signifying his nonconsecutive terms is a photo displaying Biden’s signature — a nod to the Trump administration’s claims that his predecessor was not fully cognitively aware of all his decisions while in office.
“The Presidential Walk of Fame has arrived on the West Wing Colonnade,” Margo Martin, special assistant to the president and communications adviser, wrote in a post on X.
The Rapid Response 47 account, which serves as an official communications page for the White House, reposted the video with three laughing emojis.
The portrait replacement comes after Trump had previously suggested he would not put Biden in the Hall of Fame.
The Trump administration and many of the president’s allies have long fixated on Biden’s use of the autopen while in office, claiming the former president was not aware of decisions being made by his staff — particularly pardons of prominent Democrats, such as lawmakers who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riots.
An autopen is a device with a pen or pen-holding arm that uses ink to reproduce signatures for the signatory. Several presidents have been known, or rumored, to use the autopen over the last several decades — even Trump himself. (Trump has said he only used autopen for “unimportant papers” such as letters.)
Since then, Trump has regularly boasted of his authentic signature while signing proclamations and executive orders — a veiled attack on his predecessor.
The replaced portrait also comes after Trump has already relocated other presidential mementos such as portraits of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. \