White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt threw a barb at CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins during Monday’s press briefing over her question relating to pardons issued by President Joe Biden.
The subject came up following President Donald Trump’s declaration that he has voided pardons Biden issued during his final days in office that were allegedly signed by an autopen, and not by Biden himself.
Leavitt said that everyone was finally able to agree that Biden was “cognitively impaired.”
“I know it took people some time to finally admit that, but we all know that to be true, as evidenced by his disastrous debate performance against President Trump during the campaign,” she said. “I digress on that, but the president was raising the point that, did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?”
She noted that some Biden officials had expressed concern over the issue in a report from the New York Post.
“I think it’s a question that everybody in this room should be looking into, because certainly that would [be] perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were signing the President of the United States’ autograph without his consent,” she said.
After a brief exchange between the two, Collins asked if there was going to be evidence that Biden was not aware that his signature was used on the pardons.
Leavitt fired back: “You’re a reporter, you should find out.”
WATCH:
.@PressSec on Biden's autopen pre-emptive pardons: "Did the President even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?… I think it's a question that everybody in this room should be looking into." pic.twitter.com/sH5XLhng9I
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 17, 2025
