In a controversial move, White House press officials reportedly altered the official transcript of a call in which President Joe Biden made a remark about Trump supporters, prompting backlash from the White House stenography team and raising concerns over protocol.
The original statement, made on a video call with Latino activists, saw Biden respond to derogatory comments about Puerto Rico from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally. According to the initial transcript, Biden stated, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” But in the official version released by the White House, the term “supporters” was altered to “supporter’s” with an apostrophe, suggesting Biden was criticizing Hinchcliffe, not all Trump supporters.
The alteration, made after the press office allegedly “conferred with the president,” was met with resistance from the White House stenography office. In an email to senior press officials, the stenography supervisor called the edit “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity.” This team is responsible for creating accurate, unaltered transcripts of the president’s remarks for historical preservation by the National Archives. “If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” the supervisor stressed in the email.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny, with Biden’s comments sparking immediate responses from both parties.
The Trump campaign quickly capitalized on the uproar, with Trump holding a photo op inside a garbage truck to mock Biden’s criticism. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris distanced herself from Biden’s remarks, making an unprecedented break with the president. “Let me be clear,” she told reporters, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
In response to the criticism, Biden took to social media to clarify his comments, stating that he was specifically referring to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico” from Hinchcliffe and not generalizing about Trump supporters.
Nonetheless, the controversy persisted, with White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates posting the edited quote on X and asserting that Biden was addressing the rally rhetoric as “garbage.” But the press office’s decision to release the altered transcript before obtaining final approval from the stenography supervisor has fueled concerns about the integrity of White House records, which are legally required to preserve unedited presidential communications.
House Republicans, led by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), have called for a formal investigation, claiming the altered transcript could violate the Presidential Records Act of 1978. In a letter to White House counsel Ed Siskel, Stefanik and Comer demanded that the administration retain all documents and communications related to the transcript’s release.
“White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message,” they wrote, emphasizing that tampering with official records undermines public trust.
