President Donald Trump repeated another conspiracy theory about the usage of the autopen during former President Joe Biden’s presidency.
Trump accused Biden of letting “murderers” and “criminals” into the country under his presidency in comments to reporters on Tuesday. He floated, without evidence, that one of Biden’s aides used the autopen to allow “murderers” into the United States.
He suggested that Lisa Monaco, the deputy attorney general under Biden, was one of the aides who used the autopen without Biden’s knowledge. There has been no evidence of Biden’s aides misusing the autopen, which is a tool that has been used by presidents, including Trump, for decades.
“We’re moving murderers out of our country that were put here by Biden or the auto pen. The auto pen really did it ... whether it’s Lisa Monaco or whoever operated the auto pen,“ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
“These are criminals. People are criminals that allow these criminals into our country. And I don’t think that Biden knew what the hell he was doing. I don’t think he even knew about it, but when they opened up our borders for the whole world to come in, we’re going to get them out. We’re getting them out,” he said.
Trump launched an investigation into Biden’s administration and the alleged use of the autopen last week, suggesting that Biden’s staff abused the presidential tool. Biden fired back at Trump, arguing that he made all the decisions about his executive actions as president.
“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations,” Biden wrote in a statement to several outlets.
Trump continued to defend the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations unfolding in Los Angeles, telling reporters on Tuesday that other U.S. cities could see similar raids.
“Many of those people that you saw on television last night are criminals that were allowed into our country by Biden, and they want to stay, and we don’t want them. And they come from jails, and they come from mental institutions, and they come from all over the world, not just South America, and we’re not going to let them stay,” Trump said.
He then said the protesters in Los Angeles “folded” after he deployed the California National Guard to quell the demonstrations.
“They may be there a little bit, but it seems to be getting less and less because they’re going there and they’re met with a very heavy force. And if they weren’t, you would have that city right now would be on fire. It would be burning down,” Trump said.
Trump claimed earlier on Tuesday that he stopped Los Angeles from burning to the ground. He has escalated his feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and has suggested that the Democratic governor be arrested in connection to the immigration protests. Trump deployed the National Guard on Saturday despite the wishes of the Democratic governor.
“If I didn’t ‘SEND IN THE TROOPS’ to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now, much like 25,000 houses burned to the ground in L.A. due to an incompetent Governor and Mayor,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
By overriding Newsom, Trump is already going beyond what he did to respond to Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, when he warned he could send troops to contain demonstrations that turned violent if governors in the states did not act to do so themselves. Trump said in September of that year that he “can’t call in the National Guard unless we’re requested by a governor” and that “we have to go by the laws.”
But now, the past and current president is moving swiftly, with little internal restraint to test the bounds of his executive authority in order to deliver on his promise of mass deportations. What remains to be seen is whether Americans will stand by him once it’s operationalized nationwide, as Trump looks to secure billions from Congress to dramatically expand the country’s detention and deportation operations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stories by Lauren Sforza
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