As Townhall has been covering, the White House has come under fire for editing the transcript of President Joe Biden's remarks from Tuesday night during which he referred to Trump supporters as "garbage." Even before the Associated Press was out with a report confirming the edits were made, Republicans demanded an investigation, with House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sending a letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel inquiring about the Presidential Records Act. On Friday, the two top Republicans sent yet another letter.
"To date, the White House has not issued a corrected transcript, and the false transcript remains on the White House webpage," the lawmakers wrote in the opening of their Friday letter to Siskel. As of Saturday afternoon, the false transcript with the misplaced apostrophe on "supporter's" is indeed still up on the White House website.
"The White House cannot simply rewrite President Biden’s rhetoric. In this case, it appears the White House is doing so to safeguard Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign. Recent reporting has since revealed 'White House press officials altered the official transcript,'" Stefanik and Comer also wrote, citing coverage from the AP. "Meanwhile, White House stenographers already submitted an accurate version—a version different than the White House publicly released—to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The reporting also noted that a government official called the actions of the White House 'a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.' Most notably, the report reveals the change in protocol came after the White House Press Office 'conferred with the President,'" the lawmakers continued, sharing more excerpts from such a report. "That President Biden himself may have interfered to break protocol to hide his outrageous remarks is unprecedented."
The letter further highlights "the standard transcript process," and the protocol that this Biden-Harris White House went against. Sure enough, there's concerns that this is to do with Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign against former and potentially future President Donald Trump. "We are concerned with the latest reporting of the White House’s apparent political decision to protect the Biden-Harris Administration, instead of following longstanding and proper protocols," Stefanik and Comer made clear.
Concerns from lawmakers about violating the Presidential Records Act are very real here, especially when it comes to the transcript produced for NARA. "We question whether the White House’s decision to create a false transcript and manipulate or alter the accurate transcript that was produced to NARA may be in violation of federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978," Stefanik and Comer write, going on to list out their demands. "Thus, we demand the White House (1) produce all documents and internal communications regarding President Biden’s statement and the release of the inaccurate transcript, (2) release the accurate version of the transcript the White House Stenographers submitted to NARA, and (3) immediately make available the White House Stenography Office’s top supervisor for a briefing to the Oversight Committee."
🚨BREAKING: A recent report revealed that while White House stenographers submitted an accurate transcript of President Biden’s “garbage” remarks to the National Archives, the White House Press Office publicly released a false transcript after conferring with President Biden.… pic.twitter.com/FQa860MB8P
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) November 1, 2024
Biden's remarks on Trump supporters being "garbage" came just one week before Election Day, and also served to overshadow Harris' "closing argument speech" in Washington, DC. With Tuesday now just three days away, the fallout continues to come for the Biden-Harris White House as well as the increasingly desperate and flailing Harris-Walz ticket.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Harris have also tried to explain Biden's remarks, all while Harris and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) double down on referring to Trump supporters as Nazis for daring to attend the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
As Matt covered earlier on Saturday, Biden's appearance on campaign calls have meanwhile been cancelled just days before the election.
If you'd like to proudly display your "garbage" status, Townhall has you covered with our brand new t-shirts here and here!