White House silent on whether stenographers’ transcription of Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments was approved

The White House remained silent Thursday when asked to confirm whether its stenographers had approved the transcript it posted of President Biden’s comments calling Trump supporters “trash,” amid accusations from Republicans that the written version of his comments on the White House website had been deceptively edited. .

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to White House attorney Edward Siskel, alleging that “a false transcript” of Biden’s remarks had been released by the White House and demanding that it “preserve and preserve all documents and internal communications” related to the president’s comments and the release of the subsequent transcript. The committee also requested an updated transcript with the correct wording.

Following Biden’s comments on Tuesday, which came during a virtual Zoom call with a Spanish-speaking voting group known as Voto Latino, the White House posted a transcript of the president’s comments. Whenever the president speaks, transcripts are regularly posted, and it is typical protocol to get those transcripts approved by the White House’s apolitical group of professional stenographers. However, the White House did not respond to repeated requests from Fox News questioning whether the final transcript of Biden’s remarks with Voto Latino had been approved by the stenographers.

Sources at the Oversight Committee told Fox News that while Biden clearly called Trump supporters “trash,” the transcript contained incorrect syntax that made the president’s words appear as if he was not speaking directly about Trump supporters — an argument echoed by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

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“President Biden’s vindictive words were not surprising given his past statements about people choosing not to vote for his preferred candidate. The White House’s actions were also not surprising after he said them,” read the letter, signed by Representatives Elise Stefanik. R-N.Y., and James Comer, R-Ky.

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

In an effort to clarify Biden’s comments amid backlash over the comments, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates insisted that the “president blasted the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally” ‘ mentioned.’ Biden himself also published a message. tweet after his controversial comments that echoed Bates’ argument.

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Vice President Kamala Harris, Meanwhile, less than a week before Election Day, she tried to distance herself from the president’s comments, but at the same time defended Biden by noting that he “clarified his comments.”

“I think he’s clarified his comments, first of all, but let me be clear: I absolutely disagree with criticizing people based on who they vote for,” Harris said on the campaign trail Wednesday morning.

Original article source: White House silent on whether stenographers’ transcription of Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments was approved