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2024-11-02 07:44:24 UTC
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Permalinktranscript of a call in which President Joe Biden appeared to take a
swipe at supporters of Donald Trump, drawing objections from the
federal workers who document such remarks for posterity, according to
two U.S. government officials and an internal email obtained Thursday
by The Associated Press.
Biden created an uproar earlier this week with his remarks to Latino
activists responding to racist comments at a Trump rally made by the
comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who referred to the U.S. island territory of
Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage.
Biden, according to a transcript prepared by the official White House
stenographers, told the Latino group on a Tuesday evening video call,
The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters his
his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and its un-American.
The transcript released by the White House press office, however,
rendered the quote with an apostrophe, reading supporters rather
than supporters, which aides said pointed to Biden criticizing
Hinchcliffe, not the millions of Americans who are supporting Trump for
president.
The change was made after the press office conferred with the
president, according to an internal email from the head of the
stenographers office that was 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 supervisor, in the email, called the press offices handling of the
matter 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, adding, 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 edit of the transcript came as the White House scrambled to respond
to a wave of queries from reporters about Bidens comments. The
presidents remarks clashed with Vice President Kamala Harris near-
simultaneous speech outside the White House in which she called for
treating Americans of differing ideologies with respect.
The Trump campaign quickly moved to fundraise off the quote, and the
next day, Trump himself held a photo op inside a garbage truck to try
to capitalize on Bidens criticism.
Harris on Wednesday distanced herself from Bidens comments making
the clearest break from the president since she took over for him at
the top of the Democratic ticket just over three months ago. Let me be
clear, she told reporters, I strongly disagree with any criticism of
people based on who they vote for.
According to the email, the press office had asked the stenographers to
quickly produce a transcript of the call amid the firestorm. Biden
himself took to social media to say that he he was not calling all
Trump supporters garbage and that he was referring specifically to the
hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trumps supporter at his
Madison Square Garden rally.
The stenographers office is charged with preparing accurate transcripts
of public and private remarks of the president for preservation by the
National Archives and distribution to the public.
The two-person stenography team on duty that evening a typer and
proofer said any edit to the transcript would have to be approved
by their supervisor, the head of stenographers office.
The supervisor was not immediately available to review the audio, but
the press office went ahead and published the altered transcript on the
White House website and distributed it to press and on social media in
an effort to tamp down the story.
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates that evening
also posted on X the edited version of the quote and wrote that Biden
was referring to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden
rally as garbage.
The supervisor, a career employee of the White House, raised the
concerns about the press office action but did not weigh in on the
accuracy of the edit in an email to White House communications
director Ben LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and other press
and communications officials.
Regardless of urgency, it is essential to our transcripts
authenticity and legitimacy that we adhere to consistent protocol for
requesting edits, approval, and release, the supervisor wrote.
The supervisor declined to comment to The AP and referred questions
about the matter to the White House press office.
Asked to comment, Bates did not address the alteration of the
transcript and said: The President confirmed in his tweet on Tuesday
evening that he was addressing the hateful rhetoric from the comedian
at Trumps Madison Square Garden rally. That was reflected in the
transcript.
Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, said the White House
unethically altered an official White House transcript in a failed
attempt to edit the truth.
Joe Biden called more than half the country garbage and the Harris-
Biden Administration cannot be trusted, she added. President Trump
will fix it.
House Republicans, meanwhile, were debating launching 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 staff of releasing a false
transcript of Bidens remarks.
In a letter to White House counsel Ed Siskel on Wednesday, they called
on the administration to retain documents and internal communications
related to Bidens remarks and the release of the transcript.
White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the
United States to be more politically on message, the lawmakers wrote
to Siskel.
Stefanik and Comer said the action could be in violation of the
Presidential Records Act of 1978.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-garbage-transcript-puerto-rico-trump-
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