close
close

House Republicans accuse White House of releasing ‘false transcript’ of Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments

House Republicans accuse White House of releasing ‘false transcript’ of Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments

EXCLUSIVE: House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer are accusing the White House of releasing a false transcript of President Biden’s remarks in which he apparently referred to supporters of the former President Donald Trump. as ‘garbage’ warning that the review could violate the Presidential Records Act.

Fox News Digital has obtained a letter that Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Comer, R-Ky., sent to White House Counsel Edward Siskel on Wednesday afternoon demanding records related to the comments and transcription is preserved.

Trump Biden

President Biden was widely criticized for his “dirty” comment about former President Trump’s supporters. (Getty Images)

“Within a 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, scandals and apparent cognitive decline – has chosen not to seek a second term,” they wrote.

President Biden, however, has continued to play a prominent role in Vice President Harris’ campaign and is indeed the most powerful mouthpiece for the Biden-Harris administration’s policies and positions that Ms. Harris is likely to want to continue under a hypothetical Harris-Walz administration.

BIDEN CALLS TRUMP SUPPORTERS ‘WASTE’ DURING HARRIS CAMPAIGN EVENT, WHEN VP PROMISES UNITY AT ELLIPSE RALLY

Stefanik and Comer pointed out Biden’s comments on Tuesday night, saying: “Americans were rightly offended when President Biden, in an effort to boost Ms. Harris’s presidential campaign, called a huge swath of the country ‘floating… trash.’

“President Biden’s vindictive words were not surprising given his past statements about people choosing not to vote for his preferred candidate,” they wrote. “Also not surprising were the White House’s actions after he said them.”

Stefanik and Comer said that “rather than apologizing or clarifying President Biden’s words,” the White House tried to “change them (despite being videotaped) by releasing a false transcript of his remarks.”

James Komer

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. (Getty Images)

“This move is not only cowardly, but also appears to violate federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978,” they wrote. “The White House staff cannot rewrite the words of the President of the United States to deliver the message more politically.”

The letter comes after President Biden spoke Tuesday on a Zoom call with Voto Latino, one of the largest Latino voter and community organizations in the US. Biden was asked about a comment made Sunday at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in which comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

Biden responded: “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters.”

The White House has since denied that Biden called Trump supporters “trash” and claimed the comment was taken out of context.

Coalition for Faith and Freedom

Rep. Elise Stefanik, RN.Y. (Coalition Faith and Freedom)

The White House released a transcript of Biden’s remarks on Wednesday.

The official White House transcript reads: “The only trash I see floating out there is that of his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.”

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates attempted to clarify Biden’s comments, saying, “The president called the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally ‘trash.'”

TRUMP CALLS ON SUPPORTERS TO ‘FORGIVE’ BIDEN IN SHOW OF UNITY AFTER PRESIDENT CALLS SUPPORTERS ‘WASTE’

And the president tweeted in a similar vein.

“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as nonsense — and that’s the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden wrote to X .’His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I wanted to say. The comments made at that meeting do not reflect who we are as a nation.

Now Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to distance herself from the comments, but she is also defending the president, saying he has “clarified his comments.”

President Biden

President Biden delivers a speech at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

“But let me be clear: I strongly disagree with criticizing people based on who they vote for,” Harris said.

Harris, referring to her Tuesday night speech from the Ellipse near the White House, reiterated Wednesday how voters will decide “who we are as a nation and whether we will be a nation of people trying to unite and break this era of division, or will we become a nation of people who have a president sitting in the Oval Office whining about his enemies list.”

‘TREATED LIKE WASTE’: TRUMP USES CRITICISM OF BIDEN AS RALLY CRY IN NORTH CAROLINA BATTLE PLACE

“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career,” Harris said. “I believe the work I do is about representing all people, whether they support me or not, and as President of the United States, I will be a President for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not. “

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Vice President Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign rally at the Ellipse on October 29, 2024 in Washington, DC (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

In their letter to White House counsel, Stefanik and Comer wrote: “While President Biden’s relevance continues to decline, his words continue to matter even as they become increasingly divisive and erratic.”

Stefanik and Comer demanded that the White House “preserve and preserve all documents and internal communications related to President Biden’s statement and the release of the inaccurate transcript.”

“We also demand that the White House release a corrected transcript with the correct words,” they wrote.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Meanwhile, Trump said at a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday that Biden and Harris have “treated our entire country like garbage.”

“My answer to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans,” Trump said. “And you can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hate out there.”