NBC Nightly News was the only legacy media evening newscast to air an item on the investigation into the use of the autopen during the Biden Administration. But, in what could be an early sign of what to expect in the Tom Llamas Era, the purpose of the report was to firefight the allegations rather than air them.
Watch the report in its entirety (click “expand” to view full transcript):
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
6/5/25
6:36 PM
TOM LLAMAS: President Trump also announcing an inquiry to his predecessor's use of an autopen. But when pressed today, he acknowledged he has no evidence documents were signed without President Biden’s knowledge, or of anything illegal. Here’s Gabe Gutierrez.
GABE GUTIERREZ: Tonight, President Trump is ordering a wide ranging inquiry into former President Biden and his administration, accusing Biden's aides of using autopen signatures to cover up his cognitive decline.
DONALD TRUMP: The biggest scandal of the last many years is the autopen and who’s using it.
GUTIERREZ: Presidents from Barack Obama to John F. Kennedy to Thomas Jefferson have used autopens or mechanized signing devices. It is legal, and Trump has acknowledged using the autopen himself.
TRUMP: Only for very unimportant papers.
GUTIERREZ: Today he was pressed whether he’s uncovered evidence of anything signed without Biden's knowledge.
TRUMP: No. But I have uncovered, you know, the human mind. I was in a debate with the human mind and I didn't think he knew what the hell he was doing.
GUTIERREZ: Last week Biden, who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, brushed off growing scrutiny of his mental competence while in office.
JOE BIDEN: I’ll put my record as president against any president at all.
GUTIERREZ: Overnight, the former president blasting Trump’s autopen inquiry as a distraction. “Let me be clear”, Biden writing. “I made the decisions during my presidency. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false.”
House Republicans are ramping up the inquiry into former President Biden, issuing a subpoena for his White House physician. If he does testify, it would be unprecedented, Tom.
LLAMAS: It would. All right, Gabe. Great to have you here in studio.
Let’s run through the various firefighting instances. Llamas set the tone when he proclaimed that Trump had “no evidence documents were signed without President Biden’s knowledge, or of anything illegal.” The whole purpose of conducting an inquiry is to see whether there was any wrongdoing.
There is certainly a suspicion arising from the spate of pardons and commutations towards the end of the Biden presidency. There was also the weird proclamation of ratification of the 28th (Equal Rights) Amendment to the Constitution, which no one talks about anymore.
Gabe Gutierrez also raises doubts about the legitimacy of this investigation by bringing up the various former presidents that signed with an autopen. And it’s an impressive list, for sure. But I’m fairly certain that none of those presidents faced significant questions about their mental health and/or cognitive abilities.
Gutierrez winds down with a positive mention of Biden, and by saying that dragging in the former White House doctor is “unprecedented.” That might be.the case, but not as unprecedented as a potential plot to hide the president’s obvious mental decline.