The “Biden Autopen Scandal” refers to claims, prominently made by Donald Trump and his supporters, alleging that during his presidency, Joe Biden was not personally signing official documents and was instead heavily reliant on an autopen.
The core of the accusation is that this reliance on a machine was evidence of Biden’s alleged cognitive decline or incapacity to govern, suggesting that his staff held the real power and were signing documents in his stead.
Questions about Biden’s age and fitness for office came to a head in 2024 after a disastrous debate performance between the then-president and Trump. Biden later quit the race, under pressure from his Democratic party, and Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the general election.
Biden in May announced that he was suffering from an aggressive form of prostate cancer, spurring new questions about his health while in the White House. Those questions have also been fuelled by a book that claims Biden’s health had been deteriorating for years, even before the debate performance.
