White House press officials altered the official transcript of a call in which President Joe Biden appeared to criticize supporters of Donald Trump, according to two U.S. government officials and an internal email obtained by The Associated Press. This sparked objections from federal workers responsible for documenting the president’s remarks.
The controversy arose after Biden addressed Latino activists in response to racist comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally, where Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” Biden, according to the original transcript by White House stenographers, told the activists in a Tuesday video call, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
READ: Op-Ed: No, Mr. President, I’m Not Garbage
However, the version released by the White House press office changed the wording to “supporter’s,” suggesting Biden was referring specifically to Hinchcliffe, not Trump supporters in general.
The change was made after the press office “conferred with the president,” according to an internal email from the head of the stenographers’ office. The email, confirmed by two government officials, called the press office’s alteration “a breach of protocol and spoilation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.”
READ: Op-Ed: No, Mr. President, I’m Not Garbage
“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” the email stated, adding that the official transcript — archived with the National Archives — now differs from the version released to the public.
The transcript edit came as the White House faced a wave of media inquiries about Biden’s remarks, which contrasted with Vice President Kamala Harris’s message, delivered simultaneously outside the White House, calling for mutual respect among Americans of differing political views.
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