Donald Trump utilized the traditional turkey pardoning ceremony to criticize his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Each year, as part of the tradition, the president pardons a turkey before Thanksgiving.
Before performing the pardoning duties, Trump seized the opportunity to critique Joe Biden, claiming that Biden’s previous turkey pardons were invalid.
In a speech filled with digressions, Trump stated: “Before going any further I want to make an important announcement, because you remember last year after a thorough and very rigorous investigation by Pam Bondi and all of the people at the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, the White House Council’s Office, and the Department of Everything, we have a Department of Everything, you know what that is, I think that’s called the White House, into a terrible situation caused by a man named Sleepy Joe Biden.”
Trump elaborated, saying: “He used an autopen last year for the turkeys’ pardon, so I have the official duty to determine and I have determined that last year’s turkey pardons are totally invalid.”
An autopen mechanically reproduces a person’s signature, often utilized by senior politicians for signing routine documents, a practice Trump has admitted to using himself.
Trump declared the turkey pardons invalid ‘as are the pardons of every other person that was pardoned’.
He jokingly noted that ‘the turkeys known as Peach and Blossom’ had been found and pardoned again.
“They will not be served for Thanksgiving dinner,” he added. “We saved them in the nick of time.”
Despite the absurdity, Trump was hinting at Biden’s use of an autopen for signing documents more significant than turkey pardons.
Trump suggested that Biden also employed an autopen to sign pardons for lawmakers and staff on the congressional committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote: “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”
This isn’t the first critique from Trump regarding Biden’s autopen use. The BBC reported that Biden’s White House portrait was replaced by a photo of an autopen signing his name.
According to the Associated Press, there are no current regulations in the US governing politicians’ use of autopens.