House Republicans say the Biden-Harris White House might have broken the law when they altered President Joe Biden’s remarks in the official transcript to imply he did not call Trump supporters “garbage.”
Biden on Tuesday during a video call with Voto Latino in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
However, after facing immediate backlash from Republicans and even some Democrats, the White House claimed that Biden did not call Trump supporters “garbage,” but was instead referring to one Trump supporter — namely, comedian Tony Hinchliffe.
The White House released a transcript that reinforced that argument, adding an apostrophe to “supporters” to read “supporter’s,” and then adding an em-dash to make it seem like Biden had not completed his sentence.
The transcript said (emphasis added):
The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.
Hinchliffe, known for his off-color jokes, had performed at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday and had joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage.”
Biden also later posted on X that he was referring to Hinchliffe’s “demonization of Latinos.”
According to House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), the White House’s addition of an apostrophe may have violated the Presidential Records Act.
In a letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, they demanded that the White House retain and preserve all documents and internal communications related to Biden’s statement and the release of the inaccurate transcript.
They also called on the White House to correct the transcript to reflect what Biden said. They said:
President Biden’s vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate. Unsurprising too were the White House’s actions after he said them. Instead of apologizing or clarifying President Biden’s words, the White House instead sought to change them (despite them being recorded on video) by releasing a false transcript of his remarks. The move is not only craven, but it also appears to be in violation of federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978.
“White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message. Though President Biden’s relevance continues to diminish, his words continue to matter, even as they become increasingly divisive and erratic,” they added.
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