Donald Trumps pulls stupid stunt to score cheap laughs, only confirms becoming president doesn't really change the man – We Got This Covered
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Image via Instagram/The White House Official Page

Donald Trumps pulls stupid stunt to score cheap laughs, only confirms becoming president doesn’t really change the man

If he wants to dish out jokes, it would also help if he could take them.

President Donald Trump unveiled a Presidential Wall of Fame at the White House where portraits of past presidents are lined up in chronological order.

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In a bid to be what he perceives to be humorous and somewhat petty, he decided to forego a portrait for former President Joe Biden and instead mounted an autopen in place of his predecessor.

In retrospect, Trump is making quite a compelling case as to why Biden made a rather wise and preemptive measure. Believe it or not, the autopen has been in use since 2011, when former President Barack Obama used it to sign the Patriot Act extension. Since then, it has become a well-acknowledged routine for the POTUS to rely on the machine when signing documents remotely.

What Trump seems to have an issue with here is that he now wants to go after the people Biden pardoned. He’s already made it public that his administration is not convinced of the validity of those pardons because of the autopen. Whether that would stand up in a court of law is unlikely, however. And one of Biden’s main pardons — his son Hunter Biden — doesn’t seem at all cowered by Trump’s recent threats and made his disdain for the president clear in his extensive interview where he took aim at just about everyone his father had an issue with on his way out of the White House.

On X, one user accused Trump of disrespecting the office with this latest stunt. Another user didn’t find the move presidential at all. Some were even hoping that this was AI because the humor simply wasn’t landing. One zinger that certainly would get under Trump’s thin skin reminded him that he still lost to the “autopen” by 7 million votes — considering Trump, after all these years, still hasn’t conceded to Biden, he might even spare a Truth Social post refuting that one in particular.

The irony of Trump being so obsessed with these Biden-era pardons is that his own pardons haven’t been well regarded by the public. From corrupt sheriffs to con-man reality stars, Trump issued pardons to people who showed little remorse to their victims. So for him to now suddenly be so interested in ensuring justice is served is quite the personality shift, especially considering he recently admitted that he would have considered pardoning Diddy were it not for his criticism during the campaign.

Trump has been very interested in this second term in renovating the presidency. He wants the monumental building to bear his fingerprints, from remodelling the Rose Garden to constructing a new ballroom, and now this. It’s very likely that this is one of his jokes that will land well with his base, who simply enjoy rabble-rousing the “liberal snowflakes.”

However, if he wants to dish out jokes, it would also help if he could take them. The problem is he’ll happily disrespect former presidents or even the papacy, but when UN escalators fail or a comedian mocks him on a show he insists nobody watches, he acts like the world should stop.


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Author
Image of Fred Onyango
Fred Onyango
Fred Onyango is an entertainment journalist who primarily focuses on the intersection of entertainment, society, and politics. He has been writing about the entertainment industry for five years, covering celebrity, music, and film through the lens of their impact on society and politics. He has reported from the London Film Festival and was among the first African entertainment journalists invited to cover the Sundance Film Festival. Fun fact—Fred is also a trained pilot.