There is breaking news that the White House may have illegally altered transcripts to hide remarks Joe Biden made — caught on video — in which he clearly referred to Trump supporters as “garbage”.
According to reports, the House Oversight Committee Chairman and the Chair of the House Republican Conference have accused the White House of releasing the false transcripts in violation of federal law, the Presidential Records Act, and a letter has been delivered to the White House Counsel demanding the apparent violations be set right.
This is a clip of Biden’s remarks at the center of the controversy, just days before voting concludes, with Biden once again doing more harm than good to the Harris-Walz campaign.
Here’s the video: pic.twitter.com/7hNp3su8k2
— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) October 30, 2024
BREAKING: House Republicans accuse White House of releasing 'false transcript' of Biden's 'garbage' remarks https://t.co/7Rh9iBxbUp
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 30, 2024
According to the breaking report on Fox News, the White House Counsel has been sent a letter this afternoon on behalf of House Republicans demanding that the records be accurately preserved, referencing the federal law in question.
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer accuse the White House of releasing a false transcript of President Biden’s remarks in which he apparently referred to supporters of former President Trump as “garbage,” warning that the revision could violate the Presidential Records Act.
Fox News Digital obtained a letter Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Comer, R-Ky., sent to White House counsel Edward Siskel Wednesday afternoon in which they demand records relating to the remarks and the transcript are preserved.
“In less than one week, the American people will determine the winner of the 2024 presidential election. They will choose between two candidates: President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden — marred by unpopular policies, scandal, and apparent cognitive deterioration — has chosen not to pursue a second term in office,” they wrote.
“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.”
But larger than the controversy erupting in social media and in the press over the remarks, and their apparent altering in official transcripts, is the potential that the White House may be in violation of federal law by their actions, according to the same Fox News report:
“President Biden’s vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate,” they wrote. “Unsurprising too were the White House’s actions after he said them.”
Stefanik and Comer said the White House, “instead of apologizing or clarifying President Biden’s words,” 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,” they wrote. “White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to be more politically on message.”
The response on social media has been swift and pointed, highlighting not only the ethical misstep that such an alteration would represent, but also the possible legal ramifications. Even before the blowback could reach full steam, the White House formulated a half-apology online, hoping to diminish the magnitude of Biden’s statement.
Earlier today I 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. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say. The…
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 30, 2024
But that response was seen for what it was, and the blowback continued to pick up speed — leading to the House Oversight Committee’s response, and allegations of illegally falsifying Presidential transcripts.
🚨BREAKING: Biden-Harris White House may have violated the law by altering President Biden’s “garbage” remarks in official transcript.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) and Oversight Chairman James Comer (@RepJamesComer) are raising concerns… pic.twitter.com/52z6J7EO7q
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) October 30, 2024
🚨 #BREAKING: The Harris Biden White House may have BROKEN THE LAW by altering the official transcript after Biden called Trump supporters “garbage,” according to the House Oversight Committee
HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!
The Oversight Committee is now demanding the White House… pic.twitter.com/8zjtB9ejfX
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 30, 2024
Here is a copy of Biden’s remarks, clearly detailing his original words, completely invalidating the altered transcripts, and likely putting the White House in violation of the law — all to mitigate the damage to Kamala’s campaign, which is quickly turning into the largest dumpster fire in American Presidential election history, all on its’ own.
This is a lie. WATCH this transcribed and slowed-down version of Joe Biden’s comments.
Joe Biden clearly called 100 million Americans “garbage” and is now lying about it.
This is what they think of you: pic.twitter.com/kn2ps9HkeY
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 30, 2024
No, you called us garbage. It's on tape. pic.twitter.com/bxb4UDnteN
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 30, 2024
The New York Times says Biden only "appeared" to call Trump voters "garbage." That's disinformation. What Biden said is clear from the video. And now the White House has altered the official transcript in a potential violation of the Presidential Records Act pic.twitter.com/ZxHJQpjTee
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 30, 2024
According to reporting by Newsweek, The White House also released a transcript of the Zoom call in an attempt to back up their claim that Biden was referencing Tony Hinchcliffe’s jokes as “garbage”, and not the half of the country that supports President Trump.
Republicans have rejected Joe Biden and the White House’s denials that the president called Donald Trump’s supporters “garbage.”
Biden said he was referencing comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke attacking Puerto Rico at a Trump rally in New York when he made the remarks on a Zoom call with the Voto Latino advocacy group.
The White House also released a transcript of the Zoom call to back up the claim that Biden was referring to Hinchcliffe’s remarks as “garbage” and not Trump supporters. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s—his—his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” the transcript reads, placing an apostrophe in the word “supporters” to stress that the president was referring to the remarks being made by Trump supporters as garbage, not the supporters themselves. Newsweek has contacted The White House and Trump’s campaign team for comment via email.
Kylie Kremer noted the addition of the apostrophe, in an attempt to misrepresent Biden’s remarks as something other than a direct labeling of Trump supporters as “garbage”.
The official White House transcript needs to be immediately corrected. Notice the use of the apostrophe in the transcript
Joe Biden’s words were clear that he was stating Trump’s supporters were the garbage
Not Biden discussing Trump’s supporter’s garbage floating around pic.twitter.com/xDyyHZsZ53
— Kylie Jane Kremer (@KylieJaneKremer) October 30, 2024
The demand from the House Republicans for the White House to accurately retain and preserve the documents required by law also included a demand that the White House issue a corrected transcript “with accurate words”, according to the earlier referenced Fox News story.
In their letter to White House counsel, Stefanik and Comer wrote, “Though President Biden’s relevance continues to diminish, his words continue to matter, even as they become increasingly divisive and erratic.”
Stefanik and Comer demanded 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 wrote.
This is breaking news, with the potential of legal ramifications — just days from Election day. As of this writing, the White House has yet to respond to the letter sent by House Republicans, or issue any further statement. We will bring you updates as they become available.
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