In his final weeks in office, President Joe Biden granted clemency and pardoned more than 1,500 individuals. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"We’re talking about [granting clemency to] a whole lot of people," the Democrat said.
However, the Times reported that Biden "did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people," according to the former president and his aides.
"Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, [Biden] signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence," the Times's report read.
Instead of repeatedly asking the president to resign updated versions of official documents, his staff used an autopen to put Biden's signature on the final version.
Biden's comments came as Republicans attacked him for his autopen use on a massive number of official documents.
In June, President Donald Trump sent a memo to the Department of Justice directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the autopen use, and to determine whether it was related to a decline in Biden's mental state.
President Joe Biden's use of an autopen has been criticized by Republicans. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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"You have somebody that's devoting four years of their life or more to being an ambassador. I think you really deserve that person deserves to get a real signature… not an autopen signature."
Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Andrea Margolis is a lifestyle writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can follow her on X at @andreamargs or send story tips to andrea.margolis@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-defends-controversial-autopen-use-mass-clemency-decisions-nyt-interview-a-whole-lot-people