Philip Bump comments on how the new Tapper and Thompson book feeds into the Republican narrative about Joe Biden:
Consider a recent Truth Social post from the president in which he suggests that former president Joe Biden’s team was (inexplicably) guilty of treason. He said (emphasis added):
This is nonsense, of course. But note the autopen part, a reference to a tool that can automatically apply a signature to a document. It’s not just that Donald Trump is saying Biden was taken advantage of, leveraging the (wildly overblown) discussion about Biden’s competence. He’s also implying that those actions were invalid, with aides making and enacting decisions without his authorization.
Again, there’s no evidence for this. In fact, it’s often the case that presidents sign onto things they don’t particularly care about on advice of their staffers. I don’t think, for example, that it was Biden’s idea to grant a lifetime achievement award to the rapper KRS-One any more than I think it was Trump’s idea to celebrate Holy Week by noting “Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and culminating in the Paschal Triduum.” Presidents have teams that take care of the minutiae of governing — and of politicking.
What Trump’s doing, though, is trying to undercut the validity of Biden’s work as president. He’s making it easier to dismiss actions undertaken by Biden and legislation signed by Biden as invalid and ignorable. The window for revoking Biden actions under the Congressional Review Act is closed, but Trump can still stoke skepticism and backlash against them.
Yes. And I’d really like to thank Tapper and Thompson for helping them do that.
Speaking of not knowing what you’re signing: