Autopen: New Biden conspiracy theory says a lot about Trump 2.0.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. On Saturday, Jeff Clark, a leader of the “Stop the Steal” movement, wrote on X that “one or more aides of Biden” were “controlling an autopen of Biden’s signature, despite Biden clearly having been senile for all or most of his time in office.” Almost immediately, this found its way to the White House, where President Donald Trump, on March 6, the day the report was published, wondered aloud during an Oval Office meeting with the NATO secretary general, “Who was signing all this stuff by autopen?” He added, “Nobody’s ever heard of such a thing.” On Sunday night, after he had some time to think it over, Trump seemed to have come to a decision based on that information. Speaking on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump asserted that these pardons were “null and void because I’m sure Biden didn’t have any idea that it was taking place, and somebody was using an autopen to sign off and to give pardons to, as an example—it’s just one example—but the J6 unselect committee.” Never mind the precedent this would set for one president to undo the pardons of another; never mind the photographic evidence of Biden signing some of the executive orders mentioned in the investigation; never mind that courts have already settled the matter, finding autopen signatures to be valid; never mind that Trump himself has used an autopen at times. You should find out.” Similarly, Sen. Mike Lee, a noted troll, had wondered on social media on March 10 if “President Biden” was “actually a robot”—but also asked, in a more serious tone, who “controlled the autopen.” The blend of jokes and accusations so often in these cases makes it hard to parse how much Trump believes in the autopen conspiracy, how much he really cares, and whether he actually plans to follow through on its implications. Oddly, this autopen report didn’t end up popping as much as one might expect in the most conspiracy theory–addled internet spaces; Trump’s deployment of the autopen idea as evidence that evil left-wing actors had been in control during the Biden administration may have butted up against some of the QAnon-style theories that Trump had been secretly in control.