Politics
Kaitlan Collins Gets Shut Down By Karoline Leavitt: ‘You’re A Reporter, You Should Find Out’
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins found herself on the receiving end of a brutal smackdown from Karoline Leavitt after questioning President Donald Trump’s claims regarding former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen for last-minute pardons.
Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, wasted no time in challenging Collins to do her job as a reporter and investigate the issue rather than deflecting the matter. During a press conference Monday, Leavitt responded forcefully when Collins attempted to dismiss Trump’s concerns.
“The president was begging the question that I think a lot of journalists in this room should be asking—whether or not the former president of the United States, who I think we can all finally agree was cognitively impaired, even knew about these pardons,” Leavitt said.
As Collins pressed for evidence supporting Trump’s claim that Biden’s signature was used without his knowledge, Leavitt turned the tables.
“Is there any evidence that he wasn’t aware of it?” she fired back. “You’re a reporter. You should find out.”
WATCH:
The exchange comes as mounting reports indicate that former President Biden’s signature on key pardon documents was likely replicated by an autopen rather than being signed by him personally. Among the individuals Biden pardoned in his final days in office were his own son, Hunter Biden, former Representative Liz Cheney, and several members of the now-defunct January 6th Committee.
The White House has yet to provide a clear answer regarding whether Biden was directly involved in reviewing or authorizing the pardons. Trump has been vocal about his intention to nullify any pardons issued through the use of the autopen, arguing that they lack legal validity.
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime.”
Questions surrounding Biden’s cognitive awareness had only intensified following reports from the Oversight Project, an initiative of the Heritage Foundation. Their findings suggest that nearly all official documents signed during the final year of Biden’s presidency were executed with an autopen, with the exception of the letter announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 race.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has publicly recounted an encounter with Biden in which the former president allegedly denied issuing an executive order restricting liquefied natural gas imports. Johnson described leaving the conversation deeply unsettled, saying that Biden himself said, “I didn’t do that,” when confronted about the policy decision.
Similarly, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called for a Justice Department investigation into whether Biden’s aides deliberately concealed his cognitive decline in order to advance a far-left agenda. Bailey argues that if Biden was unaware of his own executive orders and pardons, then the legitimacy of his administration’s final actions should be scrutinized.
An autopen is an electromechanical device that replicates signatures, commonly used by high-ranking officials to sign documents en masse. While legal in certain circumstances, its use in presidential pardons raises ethical and legal concerns—particularly if it was employed without Biden’s direct knowledge or approval.
NEW VIDEOS SUGGESTED FOR YOU
HUGE INFLATION UPDATE (MARCH 17TH VIDEO)
