WASHINGTON — White House press officers changed the official transcript of a call President Joe Biden It appeared that he was giving a blow to the supporters of Donald Trumpdrawing objections from federal employees who document those memos for posterity, according to two U.S. government officials and an internal email obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
Biden created a stir with the statements he made earlier this week in response to Latino activists racist comments at a Trump rally made by comedians Tony Hinchcliffe, He referred to the US island territory of Puerto Rico as a “moving island of garbage.”
Biden, according to a transcript prepared by official White House stenographers, told the Latino group in a video call Tuesday afternoon: “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters — his — demonization of Latinos is senseless, and it’s not. —American.”
A transcript released by the White House press office, however, made the quote with an apostrophe, reading “supporters” instead of “supporters,” and aides said Biden was criticizing Hinchcliffe, not the millions of Americans who are backing Trump for president.
The change was made after the press office “spoke with the president,” according to an internal email from the head of the stenographer’s office obtained by the AP. The authenticity of the email was confirmed by two government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
The official, in the email, said that the press office’s handling of the matter is a “violation of protocol between the Stenography and Press Offices and a theft of the integrity of the transcript.”
“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may decide to retain the transcript, but cannot independently edit it,” the official wrote, adding: “Our Stenographic Office transcript – released to our distro, including the National Archives – is now available. Edited by Press Office staff and different from the version released to the public.”
The edition of the transcript came as the White House sought to answer reporters’ questions about Biden’s comments. The president’s remarks clashed with the vice president’s Kamala Harris’ almost at the same time speech outside the White House where he called for Americans of different ideologies to be treated with respect.
Trump’s campaign quickly moved from the budget to fundraising, and the next day, Trump himself posed for a photo inside a garbage truck To try to capitalize on Biden’s criticism.
Harris distanced himself from Biden’s comments on Wednesday, making the clearest break from the president since he took over at the head of the Democratic ticket just over three months ago. “Let me be clear,” he told reporters, “I don’t agree with any criticism of people who vote.”
According to the email, the press office asked stenographers to quickly produce a transcript of the call amid the firestorm. Biden himself took to social media to say that he wasn’t calling all Trump supporters trash and was specifically referring to “the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump supporters at the Madison Square Garden rally.”
The stenographer’s office is responsible for preparing accurate transcripts of the president’s public and private remarks for preservation by the National Archives and distribution to the public.
That evening the two-man stenographer team on duty – the “typist” and the “proofer” – said that any changes to the transcript would have to be approved by their supervisor, the head of the stenographer’s office.
The monitor was not immediately available to review the audio, but the press office went ahead and posted an altered transcript on the White House website and distributed it to the press and social media in an attempt to squash the story.
White House press secretary Andrew Bates also published an edited version of the quote on X that evening and wrote that Biden referred to the “hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’
The watchdog, a career White House staffer, raised concerns about the press office’s action — but did not measure the accuracy of the change — in an email to White House communications director Ben LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. other press and communication officers.
“Regardless of urgency, it is imperative that we adhere to consistent protocol for requesting changes, approval and release to ensure the authenticity and legitimacy of our transcripts,” the official wrote.
The watchdog declined to comment to the AP and referred questions on the matter to the White House press office.
Asked for comment, Bates did not address the change in the transcript, saying: “The president confirmed in his tweet Tuesday evening that he was addressing the comedian’s hateful rhetoric at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. That was reflected in the record.”
House Republicans, on the other hand, were debating whether to launch an investigation into the matter. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., on Wednesday accused White House staffers of releasing a “false transcript” of Biden’s remarks.
In a letter to White House counsel Ed Siskel on Wednesday, they He asked the administration to keep the documents and internal communications related to Biden’s remarks and transcript release.
“White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to make a more political message,” the lawmakers wrote to Siskel.
Stefani and Comer said the action could violate the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
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Madhani reported from Las Vegas.
