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Political commentator Mark Halperin called out The New York Times for their interview with former President Joe Biden published on Sunday, questioning why expert and Republican analysis on the president's use of an autopen to "delegate pardons" was "absent" from their write-up.
On Monday’s episode of "The Morning Meeting," Halperin argued that The New York Times disregarded basic journalistic standards by failing to include opinions from experts and Republicans on Biden’s claims about his use of the autopen.
"If this shoe were on the other foot, I can't believe The New York Times wouldn't have gone and gotten Adam Schiff's reaction. There's no Republican reaction in that story," Halperin noted. "There's no legal expert quoted in the story…"
Halperin slammed The Times for ignoring "basic journalism 101" standards by not including the opinions of legal experts and Republicans in their interview with Biden.
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer interjected, noting that there is a pattern from the "legacy left-wing press" in refusing to engage with Republicans on stories that concern possible wrong-doing by Democrats.
"That's the point I'm making," Halperin replied.
"It's like, that's basic journalism 101. Biden is now taking the position that he could delegate pardons, right? That's the position they took in the story. Everything else is fine. That's the one thing. So what do law professors think about that? What do Republicans think about that? It's absent from the story," he added.
The political commentator continued, stating that he cannot understand "as a matter of journalism," why The Times would forgo expert and dissenting opinions on Biden's claims about his autopen use. He said that if the outlet was writing about a Republican politician in the same circumstances, "they'd have both of those things."
"They'd have some hysterical law professors saying this is an impeachable offense, and they'd have a Republican saying this needs to be investigated," Halprin asserted. "It's absent from the story, it's madness."
TRUMP RESPONDS TO BIDEN DISMISSAL OF AUTOPEN PROBE, SAYS HE DIDN'T KNOW 'WHAT WAS GOING ON'
Biden's use of autopen to sign pardons while in office has come under fire as the Trump administration investigates his use of the tool. (AP/Susan Walsh)
In The Times' interview with Biden, the former president argued that because he "granted clemency to so many people," he had his staff use the tool to sign the pardons.
"'I made every decision,' Mr. Biden said in a phone interview on Thursday, asserting that he had his staff use an autopen replicating his signature on the clemency warrants because ‘we’re talking about a whole lot of people,’" The Times reported.
However, The Times report said Biden did not personally approve each name included in the broad, categorical pardons.
The New York Times' article on Biden's use of the autopen was challenged for not having more analysis. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo | Getty Images)
"Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence," The Times reported.
Biden’s chief of staff issued final approval for multiple high-profile preemptive pardons during the former president’s final days in office.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to The New York Times for comment.
