Career administration staffers within the White House expressed reservations regarding the process through which aides to President Joe Biden modified a transcript of his remarks that appeared to reference supporters of Donald Trump as 'garbage,' as per emails obtained by a source.
The objections from the White House stenographers' office were primarily focused on the alteration made to the transcript, rather than the accuracy of the change itself. The urgency to clarify Biden's comments arose as Republicans criticized the president for allegedly disparaging Republicans.
In his speech, Biden mentioned a comedian who had referred to Puerto Rico as a 'floating island of garbage' before a Trump speech at Madison Square Garden. Biden then remarked, 'The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.'
The contentious alteration occurred when White House press staffers added an apostrophe, changing 'supporters' to 'supporter’s,' suggesting that the president was specifically targeting the comedian and not all of Trump's supporters.
According to the emails, Biden's aides consulted with the president before making the change, and Biden himself later clarified his comments on social media. However, the alteration of the official transcript without approval from a supervisor in the stenographers' department raised concerns.
The urgency to distribute the transcript with the apostrophe included stemmed from the potential misinterpretation of Biden's words circulating on social media. Despite the event being captured on camera, the altered transcripts could have misrepresented the president's intended message.
The breach in protocol by the Press Office staff in editing and releasing the transcript independently without proper approval was highlighted in the emails. The supervisor emphasized the importance of adhering to consistent protocol for requesting edits, approval, and release to maintain the authenticity and legitimacy of the transcripts.
'If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,' the supervisor stated in the emails obtained by the AP.
