The Trump campaign accused the White House of a cover-up centered around President Joe Biden’s alleged “garbage” remark, claiming the transcript was altered to change its meaning.
According to an email from a stenographer supervisor acquired by the AP, press officials allegedly pressured stenographers to edit Biden’s comment, “a breach of protocol” that compromised transcript accuracy.
The White House reportedly inserted an apostrophe to “supporters” and added an em-dash to change the context of Biden’s statement.
“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” the supervisor noted.
“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.”
Stenographers, tasked with creating official transcripts for the National Archives and public release, were instructed by the press office to produce a transcript of Biden’s call as public backlash grew, reported the AP.
When Biden made the remarks on Tuesday, a two-person team—one typist and one proofreader—was on duty. Approval from the head of the stenographers’ office was required for any official transcript changes, per the AP.
Due to the head’s inability to grant immediate approval, the White House reportedly proceeded to circulate the edited transcript.
“Regardless of urgency, it is essential to our transcripts’ authenticity and legitimacy that we adhere to consistent protocol for requesting edits, approval, and release,” wrote the head of the stenographers’ office in an email to White House communications director Ben LaBolt and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The Trump campaign condemned the Harris-Biden administration, labeling it “the most dishonest administration in history.”
“They continue to get caught covering up the truth,” the statement continued.
“They attempted to obscure Joe Biden’s ‘garbage’ comment about Trump supporters.”
Trump’s team cited fabricating crime data, misrepresenting job figures, and Harris’ claims about the state of the border’s security, Bidenomics’ efficacy, and Joe Biden’s health condition.
“Kamala Harris leads the most corrupt and dishonest administration in American history,” the statement concluded.
In response to the AP’s report, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates referred to Biden’s clarification.
“The President confirmed in his tweet 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,” Bates stated.
