White House stenographers speak up about protocol 'breach' in editing Biden's 'garbage' quote transcript

WASHINGTON, DC: White House stenographers have reportedly raised objections over an alteration in the official transcript of President Joe Biden’s comments during a video call with Latino activists on Tuesday, October 29.

According to an Associated Press report, the White House press office edited the transcript despite concerns from the official stenographers.

Biden’s comments were reportedly altered by the addition of an apostrophe, allegedly to refocus his statement on comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who on Sunday, October 27, called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally.

White House stenographers call transcript edit 'breach of protocol'

White House stenographers recorded Joe Biden’s statement as, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”

However, the White House press office reportedly changed “supporters” to “supporter’s,” a move they argued indicated Biden was criticizing Hinchcliffe rather than all of Donald Trump's supporters.

The outlet cited two government officials and an internal email from the White House stenographers’ office in its report.

According to an email from the office’s head, this change was made following a discussion between the press office and the President.

The supervisor’s email reportedly called the edit “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices,” with the supervisor adding that the change was done without the approval of the stenography supervisor.

The email also reportedly stated, “If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently."

The supervisor explains in the email, “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,” as confirmed by two unnamed government staffers through the AP report.

Stenographer supervisor wants 'consistent protocol' regardless the urgency

According to the report, the two stenographers on duty during the call included one typing the transcript and another proofreading. Both noted that protocol requires the supervisor’s approval before making any edits, especially when clarifying statements from the President.

The supervisor was reportedly unavailable to check the audio at the time, but the White House press office still went ahead with the modified transcript’s release on its website and distributed it to media outlets.

In an email addressed to White House communications director Ben LaBolt, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and other communications officials the report said, the stenography supervisor reportedly highlighted that, “Regardless of urgency, it is essential to our transcripts’ authenticity and legitimacy that we adhere to consistent protocol for requesting edits, approval, and release.”

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates responds on editing Joe Biden's 'gargage' quote 

The report noted that White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates did not directly address the alleged transcript alteration but commented that Biden’s intention was clarified in a tweet issued Tuesday.

Bates stated, “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. That was reflected in the transcript.”

Republicans and Democrats have criticized the comedian's remarks, including Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate.

On Wednesday, Harris noted that Biden had clarified his remarks, adding: "I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for."