A recent alteration in the official transcript of President Joe Biden’s remarks has led to a bipartisan uproar and calls for a congressional investigation.

In a move that breached protocol, White House aides modified President Biden’s speech transcript before its release, stirring significant controversy and impacting Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, The Washington Examiner reported.

The incident unfolded when President Biden addressed the Latino advocacy group Voto Latino, critiquing the portrayal of Latinos by some of Trump’s supporters. This critique was originally transcribed as "supporters" but was later changed to "supporter’s" by White House press aides.

White House aides made this change on a Tuesday, and it came to light on Thursday when the Associated Press reported it, citing an internal email and government officials who confirmed the modification.

The head of the White House stenography office did not approve the alteration, deviating from standard procedures that mandate discussing any changes to official transcripts beforehand.

Alteration Sparks Debate Over Transcript Integrity

Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, defended the modification, stating that the transcript was altered to reflect a clarifying tweet by President Biden. In the tweet, Biden specified that his remarks targeted a comedian's derogatory comments made at a Trump rally and not Trump’s supporters broadly.

An internal email from the head of the stenography office criticized the independent edit by the press staff as a "spoilation of transcript integrity." The email outlined that while the Press Office might withhold a transcript due to differences in interpretation, editing it without consultation was not permissible.

Despite the controversy, the press office released the edited transcript to the public, while the stenography office sent the original version to the National Archives.

Congressional Leaders Consider Investigation

Republican figures, including Representatives Elise Stefanik and James Comer, expressed concerns over the transcript’s alteration and are contemplating a congressional inquiry to delve into the matter.

Commentators have compared this incident to Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" comment from 2016, which also stirred significant political backlash. Former President Trump has highlighted Biden's altered remarks as a fundraising tool, emphasizing the potential impact of such statements.

Following the backlash, Vice President Kamala Harris made efforts to mitigate the fallout by emphasizing unity and bipartisanship in her speeches, specifically addressing the criticisms at an event at Joint Base Andrews.

Harris Responds to the Controversy

In her response, Vice President Harris distanced herself from the controversy, stating, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. As you heard in my speech last night and continuously throughout my career, I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not.”

Her comments reflect an attempt to maintain a neutral stance amidst the growing partisan tensions fueled by the transcript alteration.

The contentious issue continues to unfold as both parties react to the implications of the transcript’s modification and its impact on the political landscape.