White House press officials have changed the official transcript of a conversation in which President Joe Biden appears to attack supporters of Donald Trump . That drew objections from federal officials, who document and archive such remarks, according to two government officials and an internal email obtained yesterday by The Associated Press.
Biden sparked backlash earlier this week for his words to Latino activists. They were in response to racist comments at a Trump rally made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called the US island territory of Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash”.
According to a transcript prepared by official White House stenographers, Biden told the Latino group during a video call Tuesday night: “The only trash I see floating around there is his supporters – his – his demonization of Hispanics is irresponsible and un-American."
According to the transcript released by the White House press office, however, Biden spoke in the singular and criticized only Hinchcliffe, not in the plural – against the millions of Americans who support Trump for president.
The change was made after the press office "consulted with the president," according to an internal email from the head of the stenographers division obtained by the AP. The authenticity of the email was confirmed by two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The internal email called the press office's handling of the issue a “violation of protocol and compromising the integrity of the transcript”.
„If there is a difference in interpretation, the press office may choose to distribute the transcript, but may not redact it on its own,”, the internal email said, adding that the transcript from the transcript office – also sent to the National Archives – is already different from the version edited and released to the public by press office staff."
The redaction of the transcript was made as the White House scrambled to respond to a flurry of inquiries from reporters about Biden's comments. The president's remarks came almost simultaneously with a speech by Vice President Kamala Harris outside the White House, in which she called for respect for Americans of different ideologies.
Trump's campaign quickly went on the offensive to make the most of Biden's words. The next day, Trump himself took a picture of himself in a garbage truck to try to score points at Biden's expense.
On Wednesday, Harris distanced himself from Biden's comments, marking the clearest divergence with the president since he became the Democratic presidential nominee just over three months ago.
“Let me be clear,” Harris told reporters, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.“
According to the email, the press office asked the stenographers to quickly produce a transcript of the conversation amid the barrage of questions. Biden himself took to social media to say he wasn't calling all Trump supporters trash and that he was referring specifically to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico uttered by the Trump supporter at his rally in Madison Square Garden.
The Office of Stenographers is charged with the preparation of accurate transcripts of the President's public and private speeches for preservation by the National Archives and distribution to the public.
The two-man shorthand team that was on duty that night – "recruiter" and "verifier" - said any decision to change the transcript would have to be made by their supervisor.