Karoline Leavitt Snaps Back at CNN's Kaitlan Collins Over Biden 'Evidence' Question: 'You're a Reporter'

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt engaged in a tense exchange with CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins regarding whether former President Joe Biden was fully aware of the documents he approved while in office.

During a Monday press briefing, Collins questioned Leavitt about President Donald Trump’s assertion that many of Biden’s executive orders had been signed using an autopen. Specifically, she asked whether Trump had been advised by legal experts that he had the authority to overturn a pardon authorized by that device.

Leavitt responded by saying that Trump was “begging the question” that “a lot of journalists in this room should be asking.”

“The president was raising the point that, did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?” Leavitt said.

She continued, emphasizing that this concern was not unique to Trump or herself. “That’s not just the president or me raising those questions, Kaitlan,” she said, referencing a New York Post report that indicated even members of the Biden administration had similar worries.

“I think it’s a question that everybody in this room should be looking into,” she added.

Collins countered by pointing out that Biden had publicly discussed the preemptive pardons.

Leavitt then pressed further, asking if he had been “aware of his signature being used on every single pardon.”

Collins fired back with a question of her own: “Is there any evidence … that he wasn’t aware of it?”

“You’re a reporter. You should find out,” Leavitt quickly responded.

The controversy surrounding autopen signatures intensified following revelations by the Oversight Project, a Heritage Foundation initiative, which discovered that pardons for Biden family members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol events “have the same exact Biden autopen signature.”

Additionally, the group highlighted that an autopen-signed pardon dated Dec. 30, 2022, had been issued while Biden was vacationing and playing golf in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Despite the document stating it was “Signed in the City of Washington,” questions arose regarding its authenticity.

Previously, the Oversight Project had identified multiple federal register documents that “used the same autopen signature.”

However, one notable exception was “the announcement that the former President was dropping out of the race last year.”

Leavitt pointed out that Biden’s presidency had been repeatedly scrutinized over concerns regarding his cognitive abilities, particularly in light of several public missteps.

Biden ultimately withdrew from the campaign last summer following a debate with Trump that prompted even mainstream media outlets to acknowledge the issue.