The transcript of President Joe Biden‘s video call earlier this week, during which he referred to former President Donald Trump‘s supporters as “garbage,” was altered by White House press officials, according to a report from the Associated Press (AP).
Biden faced backlash after a clip of his call Tuesday with Voto Latino was circulated online, during which the president was heard saying, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters—his—his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Biden’s comment followed a comic at Trump’s rally in New York City on Sunday referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
The White House told Newsweek on Tuesday that Biden was referring to the rhetoric at Trump’s rally and not those who vote for him. Officials also shared a transcript of Biden’s call that included an apostrophe on “supporter’s.”
According to an email from the head of the White House stenographer’s office reviewed by AP, however, the apostrophe was added after members of the White House press team “conferred with the president.”
The supervisor wrote in the email that the change was “a breach of protocol and spoilation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices,” per AP’s report. Two government officials also confirmed the authenticity of the email.
The email read that 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.”
Trump’s campaign has latched onto Biden’s comment in the final days of the 2024 election. Many Republicans have compared the remark to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statement during the 2016 election when she referred to Trump’s supporters as “deplorables.” The flub is believed to have hurt the then-Democratic nominee’s presidential race.
On Wednesday, the former president rode in a garbage truck before taking the stage at his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which he said was “in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.” He also wrote in a post to his Truth Social account on Tuesday, “You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American People. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have shown they are both unfit to be President of the United States.”
Harris has distanced herself from Biden’s comments, telling reporters on Wednesday, “Let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
Biden said in a post to his X account on Tuesday that he had “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.”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Newsweek via email Thursday, “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.”
Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden has received immense pushback after several speakers made inflammatory and often racist remarks. The former president has received the most backlash for comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who told the crowd early in the night, “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
Hinchcliffe also made lewd comments about Latinos, Black people and Jews. The Trump campaign has said that the joke about Puerto Rico “does not reflect the views” of the former president.
Clips also circulated this week of Trump calling the people close to Harris’ campaign “scum” and “garbage.” The clip is from Trump’s rally in Madison, Wisconsin, on September 7, and was published on X by anti-Trump conservative group The Lincoln Project.
“It’s not her, it’s the people that surround her,” Trump said. “They’re scum. They are scum, and they want to take down our country. They are absolute garbage.”
Update 10/31/24, 11:06 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and comment from the White House.