White House press officials altered the official transcript of a call in which Joe Biden appeared to criticize supporters of President Trump, drawing objections from federal workers responsible for documenting presidential remarks.
The incident, reported by two government officials and detailed in an internal email obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, has stirred up debate over protocol and transparency.
The uproar began earlier this week when Biden, speaking to Latino activists, responded to a Trump rally incident involving comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. During the rally, Hinchcliffe reportedly referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” which led Biden to tell the Latino group on a 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,” according to a transcript prepared by the White House stenographers.
However, the White House press office later released a modified version of the transcript, altering “supporters” to “supporter’s,” a subtle change aides claimed redirected Biden’s criticism to Hinchcliffe rather than Trump’s supporters. The alteration was made after consulting with the president, according to an internal email from the head of the stenography office, confirmed by two government officials.
The email described the modification as “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.” The supervisor asserted that while the press office may choose to withhold a transcript if there is disagreement, it “cannot edit it independently.” The unaltered version had been released to the National Archives, creating a discrepancy with the publicly distributed transcript.
The White House faced mounting media queries about Biden’s remarks, which clashed with a near-simultaneous address by Kamala Harris. Harris emphasized respect for Americans of differing ideologies, a contrast that prompted questions from the Trump campaign, which quickly fundraised off Biden’s comments. Trump himself staged a photo op in a garbage truck, further amplifying the incident.
Harris later distanced herself from Biden’s statement. “Let me be clear,” she said, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
According to the email, the White House press office had requested a swift transcript release from the stenography team amid the media firestorm. The two-person team, consisting of a “typer” and “proofer,” stated that any changes required approval from their supervisor, who was unavailable at the time. Nonetheless, the press office published the edited transcript on the White House website and social media.
House Republicans are now considering an investigation. Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) accused the White House of “releasing a false transcript.” In a letter to White House counsel Ed Siskel, they called on the administration to preserve documents and communications regarding the transcript, asserting that such actions could violate the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
