Staff Reports
The political circus continues as House Republicans point fingers at the Biden-Harris administration for what they claim might be a violation of the law regarding the official transcript of President Biden’s remarks. During a chat with Voto Latino aimed at drum rolling support for Kamala Harris’s presidential aspirations, Biden allegedly let slip some disparaging words about Trump supporters, declaring that “the only garbage” in sight was their lot. This comment quickly ignited a firestorm of backlash, and the White House, in a move reminiscent of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, attempted to clarify that Biden was merely referencing a single Trump supporter, comedian Tony Hinchliffe.
The White House’s attempt at damage control included a swift alteration of the official transcript, adding an apostrophe to “supporters” to somehow twist the narrative into an assertion that Biden wasn’t casting a net over all Trump fans, but rather poking fun at Hinchliffe alone. The new transcript appeared as if it was concocted in a middle school English class, with an extra em-dash thrown in for good measure. Now, instead of attacking a group, Biden was supposedly just singularly focusing on Hinchliffe’s comedic style—which had nothing to do with the fact that Hinchliffe had just performed at a Trump rally, where he made headlines for some less than tasteful jokes about Puerto Rico.
White House altered transcript of Biden’s ‘garbage’ remark – AP
The unilateral change was ‘a breach of protocol,‘ the head of the stenographer’s office has reportedly complainedhttps://t.co/6cyzNWy3X1 pic.twitter.com/B2Y5a0JVIY
— RT (@RT_com) November 1, 2024
Elise Stefanik, the Republican Conference Chair, along with Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, are sounding the alarm bells, asserting that the White House’s tampering with the transcript may breach the Presidential Records Act. In a letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel, they demanded the preservation of all documents surrounding this faux pas and emphasized the need to correct the records, suggesting that the administration’s scrambling is not just politically expedient, but potentially illegal.
The Republicans have not shied away from pointing out the glaring irony. They argue that it’s a classic case of the Biden administration trying to play puppet master with the truth, opting to “edit” the President’s words rather than face the music. Instead of owning up to what was said—especially when it was all captured on video—the White House took the weaselly route of rewriting history. Biden’s remarks, they claim, reflect a larger troubling trend in which the current administration shows all the charm of a bull in a china shop when it comes to authenticity.
As House Republicans continue their investigation into this incident, they make clear that the President’s words carry weight, no matter how much the administration might wish to wield a red pen and rewrite them into oblivion. In an era where information can be manipulated at the click of a button, the real question might be whether or not the public will ultimately see through the smoke and mirrors—or, just as worryingly, whether they even care. Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration appears to be navigating this political tightrope with all the grace of a toddler trying to walk in high heels.
