‘AUTOPEN!’ Newsom Skewers Trump’s Claim An Aide Is Posting For Him

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) press office took the White House claim that Donald Trump wasn’t responsible for a racist social media post depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes— and ran with it Friday.

The post included baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and a short video clip of the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the bodies of simians. It immediately drew widespread condemnation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as from prominent members of the media.

After Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially brushed off the outrage as “fake,” the administration apparently felt forced to pivot.

CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene reported, “The White House has now taken down the post. A senior WH official tells me: ‘A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down.'”

Treene added, “It was up for 12 hours.”

Politico’s Sophia Cai quoted her own White House source saying, “President Trump didn’t see the video (legitimately didn’t), a staffer posted it.”

Newsom’s office jumped on the admission, posting “WOW! WHITE HOUSE SAYS TRUMP DOESN’T WRITE HIS OWN TWEETS??? AUTOPEN!” and included an A.I. image featuring an autopen writing a social media post in Trump’s name.

The image featured a gilded frame like those that appear on Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame,” where Trump hung an image of an autopen in lieu of former President Joe Biden’s portrait.

Trump has long railed against Biden’s use of an autopen, calling it “one of the greatest scandals of our time,” and attempted to nullify Biden’s executive orders.

Trump admitted in January to using the autopen himself, telling House Republicans, “And by the way, you ought to make a big deal out of the autopen. The autopen was your president. Because most of the things were signed by autopen, and you’re not allowed to do that. I signed very little–.”

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