White House press officials made adjustments to the official transcript of a call in which President Joe Biden seemed to criticize supporters of Donald Trump. This modification elicited objections from federal workers responsible for documenting such remarks for historical purposes, according to two U.S. government officials and an internal email obtained by The Associated Press.
Earlier in the week, Biden’s comments to Latino activists caused a stir. He was responding to offensive remarks made at a Trump rally by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who derogatorily referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
According to a transcript prepared by official White House stenographers, Biden stated to the Latino group during a video call on Tuesday evening, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” However, the transcript released by the White House press office rendered the quote with an apostrophe, reading “supporter’s” instead of “supporters.” This adjustment suggested Biden was criticizing Hinchcliffe, rather than the millions of Americans who support Trump for president.
The alteration occurred after the press office “conferred with the president,” as noted in an internal email from the head of the stenographers’ office. The email’s authenticity was confirmed by two government officials who chose to remain anonymous to discuss internal affairs.
In the email, the supervisor described the press office’s actions as “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.” The supervisor underscored that if there is a disagreement in interpretation, the press office may opt to withhold the transcript but cannot modify it independently. It was noted that the version prepared by the Stenography Office for distribution, which includes the National Archives, now differs from the version edited and released to the public by the Press Office staff.
The transcript edit emerged as the White House addressed a surge of media inquiries regarding Biden’s comments. Biden’s remarks were at odds with a concurrent speech by Vice President Kamala Harris, who advocated for respect towards Americans with diverse political beliefs outside the White House.
Following the incident, the Trump campaign quickly leveraged the quote for fundraising, with Trump conducting a photo opportunity inside a garbage truck to capitalize on Biden’s criticisms. Subsequently, Harris distanced herself from Biden’s comments, marking her most significant public divergence from the president since assuming leadership of the Democratic ticket over three months ago. In a statement to reporters, she clarified, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
The email also revealed that the press office had requested the stenographers expedite the transcript’s production amid the ongoing controversy. President Biden addressed the situation on social media, stating that his remarks were directed specifically at the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally,” rather than labeling all Trump supporters as garbage.
The Stenography Office is tasked with producing accurate transcripts of the president’s public and private statements for preservation by the National Archives and distribution to the public. The two-person stenography team on duty that evening consisted of a “typer” and “proofer.” Any transcript edit would require approval from their supervisor. However, the supervisor was not readily available to review the audio, prompting the press office to proceed with publishing the altered transcript on the White House website and distributing it to the press and on social media to mitigate the story.
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates also shared the edited version of the quote on social media platform X, stating that Biden was referencing the “hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.'”
The supervisor, a veteran White House employee, raised concerns regarding the press office’s action in an email to White House communications director Ben LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and other press and communications officials. The supervisor emphasized the importance of adhering to consistent protocol for requesting edits, approval, and release to maintain the transcripts’ authenticity and legitimacy.
When contacted by The AP, the supervisor declined to comment and directed inquiries to the White House press office. Bates, asked to address the transcript alteration, did not mention it specifically and reiterated that the President, in his Tuesday evening tweet, was addressing the comedian’s rhetoric.
House Republicans began considering an investigation into the matter, with House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer accusing White House staff of issuing a “false transcript” of Biden’s statements. In a letter to White House counsel Ed Siskel, they requested that the administration retain documents and internal communications related to Biden’s comments and the transcript release.
The lawmakers cautioned that such actions could potentially violate the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
