White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is taking heat online after she bragged about changes to the West Wing and proudly shared Donald Trump’s latest swipe at Joe Biden.
In a post on X, Leavitt highlighted updates to the Presidential Walk of Fame, where black-and-white portraits of presidents hang in gold frames along the West Wing colonnade. Every former U.S. leader is displayed — except Biden. Instead, his spot is filled with a photo of an autopen.
That detail ties into Trump’s repeated claim, never backed by evidence, that Biden’s staff used an autopen to forge signatures on official documents. Trump has insisted Biden may have been unaware of key decisions, often pointing to his age and health struggles. Biden, who is battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer, has dismissed the accusations as baseless.
The move didn’t go over well with many, even among Trump supporters. The comments under Leavitt’s post quickly filled with outrage. “As someone who voted for Trump, let me tell u that this is extremely despicable and classless,” one person wrote. Another added, “I feel like we are in high school.” A third chimed in, “It was funny as a passing joke, but this is just stupid and petty. The WH should hold itself to a higher standard”, reports the Irish Star.
Others were even more blunt. “What a terrible example to be set for the children of this country. The President should be ashamed of himself,” one commenter said. Another asked, “And you’re proud of this? Does this show class? Reflect your ‘Christian values’? Discourage hate?” A fifth person summed it up by writing, “Your WH is run by a bunch of high school ‘mean girls’. It’s pathetic.”
The controversy comes after Trump in June ordered an investigation into Biden’s use of the autopen. In a memorandum, he suggested it pointed to “cognitive decline” and demanded a review into whether Biden’s aides conspired to mislead the public about his mental and physical health, reported the Mirror.
Trump said the probe should include everything from executive orders and pardons to videos of Biden, which he claimed could have been altered to disguise his condition.
Biden brushed those claims aside, insisting he was always the one making decisions. “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency,” he said. “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”
Trump, however, doubled down, telling The Daily Caller earlier this year that Biden’s portrait would be replaced with “a picture of the autopen.” He later told reporters aboard Air Force One that while he rarely used the device, Biden’s reliance on it was “disgraceful.” “We may use it, as an example, to send some young person a letter, because it’s nice,” Trump said. “But to sign pardons and all of the things that (Biden) signed with an autopen is disgraceful.”
Trump has a history of tweaking the West Wing displays. He previously moved portraits of past presidents, including Barack Obama, and even swapped Hillary Clinton’s first lady portrait for one of himself.