The fallout continues from President Joe Biden's remarks referring to Trump supporters as "garbage." The White House and Vice President Kamala Harris have tried to explain away Biden's comments, but it doesn't look to be helping. House Republicans are certainly taking notice, and on Wednesday, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) revealed that they are investigating the president's remarks and the revisions involved. Of specific concern is whether the White House violated the Presidential Records Act by revising Biden's remarks.
"President Biden, however, has continued to play a prominent role in Vice President Harris’s campaign and, indeed, is the most powerful mouthpiece for the Biden-Harris Administration’s policies and views that Ms. Harris presumably seeks to continue under a hypothetical Harris-Walz Administration," Comer and Stefanik's letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel began in part, after also discussing the nature of this race and how Biden had been forced out of the race in July.
"Americans were rightfully insulted, then, when President Biden, seeking to boost Ms. Harris’s presidential campaign, referred to an enormous swath of the country as 'floating...garbage.' President Biden’s vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate. Unsurprising too were the White House’s actions after he said them. Instead of apologizing or clarifying President Biden’s words, the White House instead sought to change them (despite them being recorded on video) by releasing a false transcript of his remarks. The move is not only craven, but it also appears to be in violation of federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978," the letter went on to read.
Such a letter is referencing how the explanation we've been told and that's been put out there in the official White House transcript and backed up by the Democrats' allies in the mainstream media, is that of concern is a misheard apostrophe over whom or what Biden was referring to with his insult, but as this letter from Stefanik and Comer further makes clear, the American people aren't buying it.
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The letter continues by calling out White House staff for such concerning actions, as well as raising further concerns with Biden's behavior.
"White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message. Though President Biden’s relevance continues to diminish, his words continue to matter, even as they become increasingly divisive and erratic," the lawmakers write. "We write to demand the White House retain and preserve all documents and internal communications regarding President Biden’s statement and the release of the inaccurate transcript. We also demand that the White House issue a corrected transcript with the accurate words," they continue, listing out their demands.
🚨BREAKING: Biden-Harris White House may have violated the law by altering President Biden’s “garbage” remarks in official transcript.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) October 30, 2024
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) and Oversight Chairman James Comer (@RepJamesComer) are raising concerns… pic.twitter.com/52z6J7EO7q
Thank you @EliseStefanik and @JamesComer!
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) October 31, 2024
The White House released a DOCTORED transcript to try to cover up Joe Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments.
That is a major violation and most legal experts say it is unlawful! pic.twitter.com/DM97tM8zkV
That the letter begins by mentioning Biden's continued role in the Harris-Walz campaign also brings up a noteworthy topic. There's been chatter about how Biden stole the thunder from Harris' "closing argument speech," with speculation as to if he's been perhaps even sabotaging her campaign. The Harris-Walz campaign hasn't wanted Biden nearby, and CNN's Scott Jennings made a rather telling point on Tuesday night about how it's seriously worth wondering why Biden is doing campaign events at all.
The House Oversight Committee also released a Fox News segment on Thursday morning over X further highlighting Biden's "garbage" insult and the concerns with those remarks as well as the cover up involved, specifically the apostrophe in the White House transcript and a nonresponse from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
"With less than a week to go before Election Day, who would have thought we'd be talking about garbage and apostrophes but here we are," the segment began by mentioning. In addition to referencing the Stefanik-Comer letter, the Fox News reporter also acknowledged that "of course the issue does not seem to be going away," as he mentioned Trump riding around in a garbage truck as he made his way to his Wisconsin rally, where he also wore an orange vest. The reporter even quipped that perhaps they could serve as "last minute costume ideas today on Halloween."
The White House Must Correct President Biden's Garbage Statement in Official Transcript pic.twitter.com/tN1fvPYP1n
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) October 31, 2024
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