Former White House stenographer says Biden's use of auto-pens a 'disgrace'

Former White House stenographer Mike McCormick says President Joe Biden's use of an auto-pen to sign bills into law and issue pardons is a "disgrace" and that members of his White House inner circle covered for him. 

"I was on Fox News in September of 2020 saying that Joe Biden was a shell of his former self," McCormick said on a recent episode of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. 

"That was September 2020. That's right. And we saw what really the press hid from us. So the fact that he wound up using an auto pen is a disgrace. It's a disgrace to the presidency, and it's an absolute disgrace to what the White House Media, quote, unquote media, did for four years covering for him."

President Trump in a Truth Social post Sunday shared a meme suggesting that Biden's auto-pen machine served as the president from 2020 to 2024 and said that Biden's preemptive pardons of members of the House January 6 committee were "void" because they were signed by the device, which replicates a person's signature. 

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 wrote.

He pressed his case the following day when he said the legitimacy of the pardons would be decided by the courts. Trump acknowledged using an auto-pen to sign letters, but said, "I'm sure Biden didn't have any idea that it was taking place."

McCormick told show host John Solomon that he believes that Biden was cognizant enough to direct members of his inner circle to have orders signed on his behalf.  He specifically mentioned then-first lady Jill Biden, political aide Steve Ricchetti and senior adviser Michael Donilon as members of Biden's White House who saw Biden's cognitive decline and covered for him. 

"They saw his decline," McCormick said. "They hid his decline, but they probably knew that he was also cognizant enough behind the scenes to be able to say, 'I want this. I want that.' And they made sure it happened physically."

McCormick served as a White House stenographer from 2002 to 2018, and served as Biden's stenographer for six years during his time as Barack Obama's vice president. He is the author of the 2019 book "Fifteen Years A Deplorable: A White House Memoir."