White House Modified Biden Transcript
Biden's aides altered the wording of the "garbage" line in the official transcript.
TroibNews 
Late Tuesday, following Joe Biden's remark labeling Donald Trump's supporters as “garbage,” a significant backlash erupted, prompting top communications aides within the White House to bypass protocol by amending the official transcript of his statement without approval from the stenography office.
The change involved the insertion of a single apostrophe, a minor adjustment that carried considerable political ramifications.
During a call with Latino leaders, Biden strongly reacted to comments made by a Trump-supporting comedian at the GOP nominee's rally, where Puerto Rico was derogatorily referred to as “a floating island of garbage.” The transcript prepared by White House stenographers indicated that Biden told participants on the call: “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 statement and the subsequent controversy have threatened to divert attention from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign efforts as Election Day approaches. The call took place shortly before Harris delivered a campaign speech just blocks away on the Ellipse, where she urged voters to reject Trump.
The edit to the official White House transcript reflects the lengths to which Biden administration officials went to mitigate the political fallout from his remarks. The repercussions from the president’s comment continue to resonate, creating additional unease for Biden's final public appearances planned for Friday and Saturday. Moreover, Republicans in Congress have already started questioning the transcript alteration, prompting discussions of a potential investigation.
While an apostrophe may be imperceptible to the public, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and communications director Ben LaBolt consulted with Biden about the backlash and felt confident that he did not intend to insult all Trump supporters, but rather reference the comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe.
In an effort to clarify Biden's intent, they first issued a tweet from his account that he personally reviewed and approved. However, as the communications team analyzed the transcript of the call, aides decided to add the apostrophe, transforming “supporters” into “supporter’s” to specify that the president was referring solely to Hinchcliffe, according to three sources familiar with the situation who requested anonymity for candidness.
The Associated Press first reported on the alteration of the original transcript Thursday night, raising the stakes in the controversy that both Harris and the White House are eager to move beyond. On Wednesday morning, Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, quickly distanced themselves from any suggestion of disparaging individuals based on their voting preferences.
An email from the stenography office's director, Amy Sands, to LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and other communications aides detailed the circumstances of the transcript change and identified it as a protocol violation. Sands, who has served in the White House stenography office for over a decade, did not comment publicly.
In her email, which was shared with PMG by another official, Sands elaborated on the timeline, stating that press aides had made multiple attempts to reach her regarding the changes but ultimately chose to send out the modified transcript before she could review it.
“The press office, having conferred with the president, requested changes to the transcript at 9:10pm and attempted to contact me for approval,” Sands wrote. “I was unable to review their requested changes immediately. At 9:35pm, after attempting to contact me again, the Press Office created a 9:45pm release timeline that I didn't confirm, and then edited and released the campaign transcript at 10:09pm, bypassing standard Stenography Office edit and release protocols.”
Sands characterized this decision as “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity,” emphasizing that her office, not the press team, should have the final say on the accurate recording of the president's words. For stenographers, it is irrelevant what a public official intended to convey; their role is to document an accurate historical record for preservation by the National Archives.
“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” she noted, adding, “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.”
In her email, Sands refrained from commenting on the accuracy of the press team's edit or stating whether she would have approved the change, focusing instead on the lack of opportunity to review the audio and make her own assessment.
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, who shared a clarification post on X regarding Biden's comment, suggested that the apostrophe addition aimed to uphold the accuracy of the transcript.
“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,” Bates stated. “That was reflected in the transcript.”
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
The change involved the insertion of a single apostrophe, a minor adjustment that carried considerable political ramifications.
During a call with Latino leaders, Biden strongly reacted to comments made by a Trump-supporting comedian at the GOP nominee's rally, where Puerto Rico was derogatorily referred to as “a floating island of garbage.” The transcript prepared by White House stenographers indicated that Biden told participants on the call: “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 statement and the subsequent controversy have threatened to divert attention from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign efforts as Election Day approaches. The call took place shortly before Harris delivered a campaign speech just blocks away on the Ellipse, where she urged voters to reject Trump.
The edit to the official White House transcript reflects the lengths to which Biden administration officials went to mitigate the political fallout from his remarks. The repercussions from the president’s comment continue to resonate, creating additional unease for Biden's final public appearances planned for Friday and Saturday. Moreover, Republicans in Congress have already started questioning the transcript alteration, prompting discussions of a potential investigation.
While an apostrophe may be imperceptible to the public, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and communications director Ben LaBolt consulted with Biden about the backlash and felt confident that he did not intend to insult all Trump supporters, but rather reference the comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe.
In an effort to clarify Biden's intent, they first issued a tweet from his account that he personally reviewed and approved. However, as the communications team analyzed the transcript of the call, aides decided to add the apostrophe, transforming “supporters” into “supporter’s” to specify that the president was referring solely to Hinchcliffe, according to three sources familiar with the situation who requested anonymity for candidness.
The Associated Press first reported on the alteration of the original transcript Thursday night, raising the stakes in the controversy that both Harris and the White House are eager to move beyond. On Wednesday morning, Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, quickly distanced themselves from any suggestion of disparaging individuals based on their voting preferences.
An email from the stenography office's director, Amy Sands, to LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and other communications aides detailed the circumstances of the transcript change and identified it as a protocol violation. Sands, who has served in the White House stenography office for over a decade, did not comment publicly.
In her email, which was shared with PMG by another official, Sands elaborated on the timeline, stating that press aides had made multiple attempts to reach her regarding the changes but ultimately chose to send out the modified transcript before she could review it.
“The press office, having conferred with the president, requested changes to the transcript at 9:10pm and attempted to contact me for approval,” Sands wrote. “I was unable to review their requested changes immediately. At 9:35pm, after attempting to contact me again, the Press Office created a 9:45pm release timeline that I didn't confirm, and then edited and released the campaign transcript at 10:09pm, bypassing standard Stenography Office edit and release protocols.”
Sands characterized this decision as “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity,” emphasizing that her office, not the press team, should have the final say on the accurate recording of the president's words. For stenographers, it is irrelevant what a public official intended to convey; their role is to document an accurate historical record for preservation by the National Archives.
“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” she noted, adding, “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.”
In her email, Sands refrained from commenting on the accuracy of the press team's edit or stating whether she would have approved the change, focusing instead on the lack of opportunity to review the audio and make her own assessment.
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, who shared a clarification post on X regarding Biden's comment, suggested that the apostrophe addition aimed to uphold the accuracy of the transcript.
“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,” Bates stated. “That was reflected in the transcript.”
Sanya Singh for TROIB News
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