White House altered transcript of Biden 'garbage' comment despite stenographer concerns

"Serious concerns" are being raised by the White House Stenography Office over what it called a "breach of protocol" in distributing an edited transcript of President Joe Biden's controversial "garbage" comment that former President Donald Trump seized on and Vice President Kamala Harris had to distance herself from earlier this week.

Issues were pointed out in an email from the Stenography Office to White House press and communication officials obtained and reviewed by ABC News and first reported by the AP.

Biden's gaffe drew the fury of Republicans over comments he made on Tuesday night's Voto Latino campaign call – which seemed to refer to Trump supporters as "garbage" and happened as Harris was delivering her high-profile campaign "closing message" on the Ellipse near the White House.

"Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a 'floating island of garbage.' Well, let me tell you something. I don't -- I -- I don't know the Puerto Rican that -- that I know -- or a Puerto Rico, where I'm fr- -- in my home state of Delaware, they're good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters -- his -- his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American. It's totally contrary to everything we've done, everything we've been."

The stenography office transcript reflected that the president told those on the call, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters -- his -- his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American."

The published White House version has apostrophe in "supporter's," which the White House has pointed to as Biden referring to comedian made by Tony Hinchcliffe at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president "clarified what he said" in a tweet that same night to ensure that what he said was not "taken out of context," and that he was talking about the comedian.

With just days to go until the election, Trump attacked Biden's comment, going so far as to arrive in the battleground state of Wisconsin in an orange vest and riding in a garbage truck with his name branded on the side.

Trump himself has used the same word to describe "people that surround" Vice President Harris.

In the email, White House Stenography Office Director Amy Sands wrote, "Our Stenography Office transcript -- released to our distro, which includes the National Archives – is now different than the version edited and released to the public by Press Office staff".

"If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently," she added.

The Stenography Office isn't disputing the apostrophe that was added in by the White House press and communications team, rather how it was handled.

Sands explained that the Press Office requested an "urgent" transcript of Biden's Voto Latino event. Her office released that at 8:56 p.m. and after White House officials "conferred" with the president, they requested changes at 9:10 p.m. and reached out to Sands for approval, though she was unable to review the requested edits immediately.

"At 9:35pm, after attempting to contact me again, the Press Office created a 9:45pm release timeline that I didn't confirm, and then edited and released the campaign transcript at 10:09pm, bypassing standard Stenography Office edit and release protocols," the email says.

Sands said this "raises serious concerns" and a "breach of protocol and spoilation of transcript integrity" between the offices.

"The White House transcript must be the autonomous product of the White House Stenography Office. The Press Office may request changes for consideration, but all requests must undergo final Stenography Office approval and be released via the official Stenography distro. Then, the wranglers can release the transcript to the public. I've made this clear in presentations to the Press Office."

When asked about the email, senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told ABC News that "the President confirmed in his tweet on Tuesday evening that he was addressing the hateful rhetoric from the comedian at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally."

"That was reflected in the transcript," Bates added.