The White House altered the transcript of President Biden’s controversial “garbage” comment despite the concerns of stenographers, Fox News Digital has confirmed.
In an email viewed by Fox News Digital, a supervisor sounded the alarm on the White House press office’s “breach of protocol and spoilation 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 in the email. “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.”
Director of White House Stenography Amy Sands also reprimanded the White House press office after the debacle, writing in an email, “After last night’s process, our team would like to reiterate that rush drafts/excerpts the Stenography Office sends to assist the Press Office are not intended for public distribution or as the final version of the transcript.
“Please avoid sharing rush drafts/excerpts, which are subject to review and might create confusion among staff, media, and the public while our Stenography Office completes a thorough review process.”
When contacted by Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said, “The President confirmed in his tweet on Tuesday evening that he was addressing the hateful rhetoric from the comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. That was reflected in the transcript.”
However, what remains unclear is whether the transcript the White House cites is the one that was altered and released to the press or the final transcript that was sent to the National Archives.
The transcript dispute stems from a virtual Harris campaign call Biden participated in on Tuesday with Voto Latino where he took a swipe at former President Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden, which made headlines after insult comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it is un-American.”
