Headline Roundup • July 14th, 2025
Daily Bias Alert: Biden Defends Autopen Usage, Media Splits Framing
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Former President Joe Biden spoke out after conservatives suggested he illegitimately used an autopen for executive actions during his presidency.
The Details: “I consciously made all those [clemency] decisions,” Biden said in a Thursday interview with The New York Times (Lean Left bias). The Times reported, “Mr. Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed. Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence.” The nuances in the extensive report led to vastly different media coverage.
For Context: Autopen use is legal and not uncommon among presidents, including President Donald Trump; but accusations suggest unelected aides orchestrated usage without Biden’s consent or cognitive ability to approve the actions (particularly a plethora of pardons just before his term ended).
From the Left: Media on the left prominently covered Biden’s denials of illegitimacy and inability to enact the executive actions, using framing that favored Biden’s defense. ABC News (Lean Left) said Biden claimed “he personally made every clemency and pardon decision during the last few weeks of his presidency…However, he and aides told the Times that some decisions for large batches of pardons were based on broad categories that various people fell into, not based on reviewing individuals on a case-by-case basis.”
From the Right: Media on the right focused more on Biden’s admission to not reviewing individual names, using framing that disparaged Biden’s defense. The New York Post’s (Lean Right) lede asserted Biden “didn’t agree to the name of every person who received [pardons].” The National Pulse (Right) stated Biden “admitted” that “‘assistants’ were responsible for notifying the autopen manager as to who should receive a pardon or commutation. Biden merely signed off on broad ‘standards’ for most acts of clemency.”
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Featured Coverage of this Story
Former President Joe Biden admitted in a New York Times interview that “assistants” were responsible for notifying the autopen manager as to who should receive a pardon or commutation. Biden merely signed off on broad “standards” for most acts of clemency.
“[T]he only things that really we read off names for were, for example, you know, was I, what was I going to do about, for example, Mark Milley?” Biden told the newspaper. For the most part, names were filled in by the Bureau of Prisons, and autopen use was managed by aides based on meeting notes...
Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
Former President Joe Biden, in an interview with the New York Times published on Sunday, said that he personally made every clemency and pardon decision during the last few weeks of his presidency -- including those made with an autopen.
However, he and aides told the Times that some decisions for large batches of pardons were based on broad categories that various people fell into, not based on reviewing individuals on a case-by-case basis. Biden said he approved the categories and standards for choosing who to pardon.
"I made every single one...
Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is escalating his battle against Republican claims that he might not have been in control of high-profile clemency decisions issued under his name at the end of his term and, more generally, that his cognitive state impaired his functioning in office.
In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Biden said that he had orally granted all the pardons and commutations issued at the end of his term, calling President Trump and other Republicans “liars” for claiming his aides had used an autopen to...
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