During a White House tour with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, President Donald Trump joked that an autopen portrait represented former President Joe Biden; Xi laughed, while critics condemned the mockery and others praised it online.
The portrait row is part of Trump’s White House renovations. Biden is the only former president whose portrait is absent; an autopen image appears in its place. Trump has claimed Biden’s administration relied heavily on the machine, a claim Biden denies. Trump also pointed Xi to portraits from both of his own administrations.
The White House posted video of the moment with a laughing emoji. Former Democratic representative John Delaney, commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin and former Trump aide Sarah Matthews criticized Trump’s remark; Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Butler called it “utterly disgusting.” New York Post columnist Miranda Devine and commentator Nick Sortor reacted positively.
