An official transcript of a call, in which President Joe Biden appeared to disparage those who support former President Donald Trump, was altered by White House officials.
The move was made even though federal workers, who are tasked with documenting such remarks for posterity, objected to the change, according to a report by The Associated Press, who obtained confirmation from two U.S. government officials and an internal email Thursday.
This is the latest development in the outrage created when Biden spoke with Latino activists regarding comedian Tony Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at a Trump rally.
Biden, in talking with the Latino group Tuesday, said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” according to a transcript by the official White House stenographers.
However, a transcript released by the White House press office contained different punctuation.
The different transcript read “supporter’s,” not “supporters.” The difference is the first one was slamming Hinchcliffe for his comment. The second appeared to criticize the millions of Trump supporters in the U.S.
The AP obtained an email internal email from the head of the stenographers’ office that read the change was made when they “conferred with the president.”
Two government officials have confirmed the email’s validity.
In the email, the supervisor said this was “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.”
“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” the supervisor wrote. “Our Stenography Office transcript — released to our distro, which includes the National Archives — is now different than the version edited and released to the public by Press Office staff.”
The White House has tried to walk back Biden’s remarks since the news of what he appeared to say got out.
The president’s words were uttered about the same time Vice President Kamala Harris was talking about treating those with opposite opinions respectfully.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign seized the opportunity to maximize the impact of Biden’s words by holding a photo opp of Trump inside a garbage truck.
Harris addressed the issue of Biden’s remarks by stating Wednesday, “Let me be clear. I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
Biden corrected himself with a post on X, formerly Twitter, saying he was talking about the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally.”
The stenographers office’s duty is prepare accurate transcripts of public and private remarks given by the president so they may be preserved by the National Archives and distributed to the public.
The stenography team on duty that evening said any edit to the transcript would need to be approved the head of stenographers’ office.
That approval was not attained as the supervisor was not available.
However, the press office published the altered transcript on the White House website and distributed it to press and on social media so the story would be lessened.
Now, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Rep. James Comer of Kentucky are alleging the change in the transcript violated the Presidential Records Act, The Western Journal reported.
White House Counsel Edward Siskel was sent a letter and told all internal communications related to making Biden sound better be saved. He was also told the accurate transcript needs to be put on the official government site, according to a news release from the House Oversight Committee.
“Americans were rightfully insulted when President Biden, seeking to boost Ms. Harris’s presidential campaign, referred to an enormous swath of the country as ‘floating . . . garbage.’ President Biden’s vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate,” the letter read, in reference to Harris.
“Unsurprising too were the White House’s actions after he said them. Instead of apologizing or clarifying President Biden’s words, the White House instead sought to change them (despite them being recorded on video) by releasing a false transcript of his remarks. The move is not only craven, but it also appears to be in violation of federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978,” the letter continued.
“White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message. Though President Biden’s relevance continues to diminish, his words continue to matter, even as they become increasingly divisive and erratic,” the letter said.
