ABC News edited its official transcript of President Biden’s interview with George Stephanopoulos after White House officials claimed it gave an inaccurate account of the president’s words.
Near the end of the interview, Stephanopoulos asked Biden how he would feel if he stayed in the race as the Democratic Party’s nominee and lost to former President Donald Trump.
“I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about,” Biden answered, according to the transcript.
ABC's official transcript has Biden saying "goodest." pic.twitter.com/cqc2GoDxK3
— Alex Pfeiffer (@__Pfeiffer) July 6, 2024
By the next day, the transcript had been “updated for clarity,” editors explained.
“I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.”
Here it is. He says goodest. pic.twitter.com/LRmGr6CvK8
— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) July 7, 2024
A Biden campaign spokesman also pressured columnists who quoted Biden’s “goodest” moment.
As NYT columnist Maureen Dowd explained, she heard from T.J. Ducklo after her Saturday op-ed.
TJ Ducklo is back, and he’s better than ever.
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) July 7, 2024
Another @maureendowd must-read, on Biden’s “goodest bunker ever”:https://t.co/gQuKzJz9LV pic.twitter.com/IXb7Yhk2gj
Biden spokesperson TJ Ducklo tries to tangle with Maureen Dowd over “goodest”https://t.co/zThbwPd2xO pic.twitter.com/owNOYyeiwd
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 8, 2024
She didn't back down.
Whatever the president meant, his answer to that question went over like a lead balloon. No one cares if he feels good about himself in a losing cause.
It might seem like much ado about goodest. But it’s a harbinger of tense times between a White House in bunker mode and a press corps in ferret mode.
Maybe the White House should think about closed captioning.