Joe Biden’s ‘vindictive’ remarks altered by White House, claim Republicans

President appeared to call Trump supporters ‘garbage’, but official transcript implied he was only talking about comedian Tony Hinchcliffe

Republicans have accused the White House of altering a transcript of Joe Biden in which he appeared to call Donald Trump supporters “garbage”.
The US president was responding to one of Trump’s Madison Square Garden warm-up acts who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” on Sunday.
Mr Biden referenced the comments as he argued Trump “doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community”.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Mr Biden appeared to say on a recorded call to the group Voto Latino.
However, the White House later released a transcript of the remarks which included an apostrophe, implying that the 81-year-old president was talking about the words of Tony Hinchcliffe, the Trump-backing comedian, rather than the Republican nominees’ millions of supporters.
The official transcript released by the White House records the president as saying: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Trump seized on the row, using it to attack the president and Kamala Harris. Arriving at a rally in Wisconsin in a bin lorry, he told reporters: “Joe Biden should be ashamed of himself. If he knows what he’s even doing. And she should be ashamed.
“She’s the vice-president, but I assume she’s acting as the president. She should never have let that happen.”
James Comer and Elise Stefanik, both senior Republican members of Congress, have accused the White House stenographers of altering the official record of Mr Biden’s words.
The pair have written to Edward Siskel, the White House counsel, demanding any records relating to the remarks and the transcript be preserved, according to a copy of the letter seen by Fox News.
They also warned that the transcript could represent a violation of the Presidential Records Act.
“President Biden’s vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate,” the senior GOP lawmakers wrote. “Unsurprising too were the White House’s actions after he said them.”
Ms Stefanik, one of the most senior Republicans in the House, and Mr Comer claimed that, “instead of apologising or clarifying President Biden’s words,” the White House had 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.”
Kamala Harris has sought to distance herself from the remarks, saying Mr Biden had “clarified his comments… But let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for”.
Mr Biden himself clarified his remarks in a post on social media after his video call with Voto Latino.
He said: “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 demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, also used her press briefing to stress that Mr Biden “does not view Trump supporters or anybody who supports Trump, as garbage”.
Republicans compared the remarks to a now infamous incident in which Hillary Clinton referred to Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables” during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The remark was used by Trump’s then campaign to highlight their claims that Mrs Clinton and the Democrats were out-of-touch elites who looked down on their former supporters.
The Telegraph has approached the White House for comment.