The White House and its media allies ran a coverup for President Biden’s maligning of former President Donald Trump’s supporters as “garbage” — going as far as to edit an official transcript of his remarks, eliciting sharp blowback from conservatives.
Democrats went into damage-control mode Tuesday night due to the president’s trash talk, claiming that Biden hadn’t intended to demonize his party’s political opponents just five days before voters head to the polls.
“The President referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage,’” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.
The White House in a transcript of the speech also added an apostrophe to the 81-year-old’s poorly timed criticism less than five days before the 2024 election.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” the transcript read.
In a follow-up X post, Biden added: “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it.”
“His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say,” the president claimed. “The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Biden was referencing Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday when referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
Some talking heads accepted the questionable apostrophe in media appearances, including film executive Franklin Leonard in an appearance on CNN’s “News Night” Tuesday.
“As someone who had a stutter growing up, it’s very obvious to me that there’s an apostrophe at the end of ‘supporter’s’ there,” he said.
“He was referring to the garbage spewed by supporters, not simply the supporters themselves,” added Leonard, who has donated to both of Harris’ presidential campaigns, campaign finance filings show.
MSNBC host and Politico White House bureau chief Jonathan Lemire also accused Republicans of having “seized” on Biden’s comments to claim the president was criticizing “half the country” that backs Trump.
“It’s certainly a story on the Right, who are trying to paint this as the next ‘basket of deplorables,’” Lemire said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” referring to Hillary Clinton’s smear of Trump supporters during the 2016 presidential election.
“They’re trying to make a firestorm out of something,” added host Joe Scarborough. “Joe Biden obviously doesn’t believe that.”
“You can clearly hear Biden say ‘the only garbage I see out there is his supporters.. and .. and.. his demonization..,’” responded GOP strategist Matt Whitlock, accusing Lemire of “flat out lying here and spreading a dishonest transcript.”
“They edited it to say ‘his supporters’ demonization,’” Whitlock said. “Shameful gaslighting.”
Politico scribe Jonathan Martin went even further to argue Biden did not alienate “half the country.”
“Sure, Trump topped out at 47% and a good third of that vote is folks who aren’t enamored w[ith] him but loathe Dems more,” Martin posted on X. “So it’s not remotely half the country.”
The New York Times declared in another headline: “Biden Appears to Insult Trump Supporters as ‘Garbage,’ but Quickly Tries to Clarify.”
“That’s disinformation,” independent Substack journalist Michael Shellenberger fired back to the Gray Lady’s editors. “What Biden said is clear from the video. And now the White House has altered the official transcript in a potential violation of the Presidential Records Act.”
When reached for comment, the White House also refused to tell Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson whether they had confirmed with Biden that he misspoke.
“Did they talk to Biden to ask him what he meant?” Thompson said he asked the president’s aides. “The spokesperson asked to go off the record. We declined. They didn’t comment further.”
“‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.’ That’s a direct quote,” emphasized Trump’s running-mate and Ohio GOP Sen. JD Vance.
“That’s what Kamala Harris’s boss said,” Vance said, posting a screenshot on X of how the remarks had been spun.
“Do @JonLemire, @alexanderburns, @politico have an ounce of integrity? Will they correct this obvious falsehood?”
Not all Democrats were displeased with what allies had cast as another Biden blunder, with billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla saying his words were an “understatement.”
“Garbage is an understatement for MAGA extremists,” said Khosla, a major Harris donor. “Biden suggests Trump supporters are ‘garbage’ after comic’s insult of Puerto Rico.”