On January 20th, President Joe Biden was officially sworn in as the 46th President of the United States after a chaotic 2020 campaign and deadly lame duck period.
Biden immediately began undoing some of the policies implemented by former President Donald Trump, signing dozens of executive orders in his first week to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, suspend the Justice Department's renewal of private prison contracts, and a slew of other initiatives.
Trump's allies in Congress immediately accused Biden of trying to rule through executive orders.
Among those allies was Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who tweeted that Biden couldn't "govern with a pen and phone."
30 executive orders and actions signed in only 3 days' time. @POTUS, you can't govern with a pen and a phone.— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@Sen. Marsha Blackburn) 1611704815.0
Never mind that Blackburn made the case for a second Trump term during the 2020 campaign by criticizing Biden for supposed inaction throughout his career, but the Senator's criticism of Biden's executive orders is at odds with her support for the former President.
Trump issued 220 executive orders throughout his four years in office, more than half of those issued by his modern predecessors who served two terms and more than any other one-term President since Carter.
Blackburn's claim that Biden couldn't govern with "a pen and a phone" led Trump's critics to remind her how the 45th President governed.
Trump signed more Executive Orders per year than any President since 1980. Silence from you. Biden comes to clean… https://t.co/UCWHo8NEbq— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@Qasim Rashid, Esq.) 1611767656.0
I prefer that over a golf club, a tweet and insurrection. https://t.co/OIwuEdKeYY— Brian J. Karem (@Brian J. Karem) 1611761977.0
Our last one governed by Twitter. https://t.co/OegGaq12dr— Geraldine (@Geraldine) 1611766330.0
the 30-year record for most executive orders signed in a single year is 69, set in 2020. second place is 55, set in… https://t.co/IXWWqWsc2A— Derek Thompson (@Derek Thompson) 1611757333.0
Marsha Blackburn says Biden "can't govern with a pen and a phone." That's right, Marsha. Trump showed that you do i… https://t.co/x7fQf3vTPk— Mark Jacob (@Mark Jacob) 1611751812.0
She never complained about Trump’s 200 executive orders, nor his governing with a sharpie and a tweet...🤷🏻♀️ https://t.co/Xhtt09U5MV— Amber (@Amber) 1611734555.0
They quickly brought attention to Blackburn's own record.
In all due respect, sit this one out Senator. You’ve been in Congress for almost 20 years. You have only sponsored… https://t.co/n0m8Xy3MQo— Jaime Harrison (@Jaime Harrison) 1611766974.0
And you can’t throw away peoples votes because you don’t like their skin tone. https://t.co/CCwRGRSGmu— Nick 🏳️🌈 (@Nick 🏳️🌈) 1611706406.0
The only way to fight obstructionists is to go around them. You show your hypocrisy every day with your failure to… https://t.co/IltE0bkJos— Dr. Lemmer (@Dr. Lemmer) 1611766906.0
Blackburn isn't expected to criticize Trump's use of executive orders any time soon.