White House press office altered official transcript in which Biden called Trump supporters 'garbage' against stenographers concerns: report

It has been confirmed that the White House altered the transcript of President Joe Biden's controversial "garbage" comment despite the concerns of administration staff, including the official stenographer. The comments were made on Tuesday night during a Zoom call with Voto Latino, where Biden referred to a joke that was made at Trump's big MSG rally.

In an email obtained by Fox News, a supervisor in the White House press office noted a "breach of protocol and spoilation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices."

According to the supervisor, "If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently. 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 wrote in the 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.

She continued, "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."

It is unclear if the transcript cited by the White House is the one that was altered and released or the final transcript that was sent to the National Archives.

On Tuesday, in a virtual campaign rally for the Harris campaign with Voto Latino, Biden attacked former President Trump's rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday during which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke calling Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

Biden said, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it is un-American," while Kamala Harris was making her final pitch to voters in a speech outside the White House. 

The transcript by the stenographers originally wrote the word as "supporters," but the transcript released by the administration’s press office read "supporter's" with an apostrophe, implying Biden was criticizing Hinchcliffe, not Trump supporters. 

According to the Associated Press, the change was made "after the press office ‘conferred with the president,’ according to an internal email from the head of the stenographers’ office." 

After backlash to Biden's comment spread like wildfire on social media, Biden posted on X, "Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation."

Trump’s team capitalized on the gaffe and set up a press conference with the former President on a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin while wearing a neon orange safety vest. He then went to a campaign rally and wore the vest during his speech.

Kamala’s efforts to distance herself from Biden's "garbage" have fallen flat, as memes, pictures, videos, and even Halloween costumes based on the comment have flooded the internet and dominated the news.