policy

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press officials have altered the official transcript of a call wherein President Joe Biden appeared to take a swipe at Donald Trump supporters, drawing objections from federal employees who document such remarks for posterity, in response to reports two U.S. government officials and an internal email obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Biden caused an uproar earlier this week along with his comments to Latino activists who responded to racist comments at a Trump rally by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called the US island territory of Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

According to a transcript prepared by the official White House stenographers, Biden told the Latino group in a video call Tuesday night: “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and that.” is meaningless.” -American.”

However, within the transcript released by the White House press office, the quote was preceded by an apostrophe and browse “supporter” as a substitute of “supporter,” which aides say suggests Biden is criticizing Hinchcliffe fairly than the tens of millions of Americans who support Trump as president.

According to an internal email from the top of the stenographer's office obtained by The AP, the change was made after the press office “discussed with the president.” The authenticity of the e-mail was confirmed by two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to debate internal matters.

In the e-mail, the supervisor called the press office's handling of the matter “a breach of protocol and a compromise to transcript integrity between the stenography and press offices.”

“If there are differences in interpretation, the press office may choose to withhold the transcript, but cannot edit it independently,” the supervisor wrote, adding: “Our Stenography Office transcript – published for our distribution, which includes the National Archives – is now available.” differs from the version edited by Press Office staff and made available to the general public.”

The editing of the transcript got here because the White House scrambled to reply to a wave of inquiries from reporters about Biden's comments. The president's comments contradicted Vice President Kamala Harris' near-simultaneous speech on the White House, wherein she called for Americans of various ideologies to be treated with respect.

The Trump campaign quickly moved to lift funds for the quote, and the following day, Trump himself did a photograph op in a garbage truck to capitalize on Biden's criticism.

Harris distanced herself from Biden's comments on Wednesday, marking the clearest break with the president since she replaced him at the highest of the Democratic nominee list just over three months ago. “To be clear,” she told reporters, “I object to any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

According to the e-mail, the press office had asked stenographers to quickly prepare a transcript of the decision amid the firestorm. Biden himself said on social media that he was not calling all Trump supporters trash, specifically referring to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico that Trump's supporters spread at his Madison Square Garden rally.”

The Stenographer's Office is tasked with preparing accurate transcripts of private and non-private statements by the President for preservation by the National Archives and distribution to the general public.

The two-person stenography team on duty that evening – a “scribe” and a “proofreader” – said that any editing of the minutes needed to be approved by their superior, the top of the stenographer's office.

The supervisor was not immediately available to review the audio recording, however the press office posted the altered transcript on the White House website and distributed it to the press and on social media to contain the story.

White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates also posted the edited version of the quote on X that evening, writing that Biden “called the hateful rhetoric on the Madison Square Garden rally 'garbage.'

The supervisor, a profession White House staffer, expressed concerns in regards to the press office's motion in an email to White House communications director Ben LaBolt and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre – but didn’t comment on the accuracy of the change. and communications officers.

“Regardless of the urgency, it is critical to the authenticity and legitimacy of our transcripts that we adhere to a consistent protocol for requesting edits, approvals and releases,” the supervisor wrote.

The supervisor declined to comment to the AP and referred questions on the matter to the White House press office.

Asked for comment, Bates didn’t address the change in protocol, saying, “The President confirmed in his tweet Tuesday night that he addressed the comedian's hateful rhetoric at Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden.” That was reflected within the Protocol reflects.”

Meanwhile, House Republicans debated whether to launch an investigation into the matter. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., on Wednesday accused White House aides of “a false transcription” of Biden's remarks to have published.

In a letter to White House counsel Ed Siskel on Wednesday, they called on the administration to preserve documents and internal communications related to Biden's comments and the discharge of the transcript.

“White House staff cannot rephrase the words of the President of the United States to convey a more political message,” the lawmakers wrote to Siskel.

Stefanik and Comer said the motion could constitute a violation of the Presidential Records Act of 1978.

policy

HARRISBURG, Penn. (AP) – Kamala Harris urged Americans on Wednesday to “stop pointing fingers at each other” as she tried to brush aside President Joe Biden's comments about Donald Trump's supporters and “trash,” ending the give attention to to guage her Republican opponent days of the race.

“We know that in this election we have an opportunity to end a decade of Donald Trump, who has sought to divide us and instill fear in each other,” the Democratic nominee said.

Harris held rallies in three battleground states as a part of a protest rally in the ultimate week of the election, with stops Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Madison, Wisconsin.

She emphasized unity and togetherness as she followed up her closing speech on Tuesday in Washington, through which she laid out what her team described as her campaign's “closing argument.”

“It’s not about scoring political points for me,” said the vice chairman. “I want to make progress.”

While waiting for Harris to take the stage in Raleigh, Liz Kazal, 35, said she was “cautiously optimistic” in regards to the election. She has tried to volunteer for the campaign every week, including making phone calls, knocking on doors along with her young daughter and raising money for Harris' candidacy.

“You hope for the best and plan for the worst,” Kazal said.

Meanwhile, the White House rushed to elucidate that the president's comment about “garbage” was a reference to the rhetoric of Trump allies, not Trump's supporters themselves. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden “does not view Trump supporters or anyone who supports Trump as trash.”

The controversy began Tuesday — the identical time Harris was speaking near the White House — when Biden attended a campaign call by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino. Biden took the chance to criticize Sunday's rally at Madison Square Garden, where a comedian described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of trash.”

“The only trash I see out there is his supporters. “His demonization of Latinos is irresponsible and un-American,” Biden said. “It’s completely contradictory to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

Harris told reporters before boarding Air Force Two for her flight to Raleigh that she disagrees with “any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

“I will represent all Americans, even those who don’t vote for me,” she said.

Her words were an try to defuse the controversy over Biden's comments and put a ways between her and the president, something she has struggled with prior to now.

Republicans seized on Biden's comments, claiming they echoed when Hillary Clinton, because the Democratic nominee in 2016, said half of Trump's supporters were a part of a “basket of deplorables.”

“We know what they believe. Because look how they treated you,” Trump said Wednesday at his rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. “They treated you like trash. The truth is that they have treated our entire country like garbage.”

He also said, “Without question, my supporters are far more quality than Crooked Joe's,” using his nickname for the president.

After landing in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for one more rally later within the day, Trump posed for photos while wearing a neon orange and yellow vest and sitting within the passenger seat of a garbage truck decorated with American flags and campaign signs.

“Joe Biden should be ashamed if he even knows what he’s doing,” Trump said.

Travis Waters, 54, who attended Harris' second rally of the day in Harrisburg, shrugged off the furor over Biden's comments.

“Donald Trump has said so much about so many other groups, and I haven’t heard the media show the same outrage,” Waters said.

In attacking Biden — and by extension Harris — Republicans have glossed over Trump's own history of insulting and demonizing rhetoric, akin to calling the United States a “dustbin for the world” or referring to political opponents as “the enemy within.” Trump also described Harris as a “stupid person” and “lazy as hell” and questioned whether she was on drugs.

Trump also rejected calls to apologize for the comment about Puerto Rico at his rally. He acknowledged that “someone said some bad things” but added that he “can't imagine that's a big deal.”

Political attack lines have been known to sometimes backfire on individuals who use them. For example, Ohio Senator JD Vance, now Trump's running mate, once described Democrats as “beholden to a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable about their own lives and the choices they've made.”

Vance's three-year-old comments resurfaced when he was named the vice presidential running mate, energizing Harris supporters who used the label as a badge of pride on T-shirts and bumper stickers, much like how Trump supporters once gleefully branded themselves “deplorables.”

On Wednesday morning, Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, downplayed Biden's comments in television interviews.

“Let me be clear: The vice president and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone to be a part of this,” he told ABC's “Good Morning America.” “Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric must end.”

In Harrisburg, Harris parried repeated interruptions from pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting her support of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

“We are about fighting for democracy and your right to be heard,” Harris said as a protester shouted. “That’s what’s at stake in this election.”

She added: “Look, everyone has the right to be heard, but right now I'm speaking.”

20 May

Burglary: 9:30 p.m. within the 200 block of North San Tomas Aquino Road. Someone smashed the window of a vehicle and attempted to steal it. The suspect also stole the airbag, horn and $5 coins from the vehicle.

VANDALISM: 9 p.m. within the 00 block of West Campbell Avenue. Unidentified individuals to the south sprayed graffiti and destroyed the bathroom paper dispenser in the lads's restroom.

21 May

DEADLY WEAPON DISPLAY: 5 p.m. within the 2100 block of South Bascom Avenue. Officers responded to a 911 call where a person threatened the victim with a knife. The suspect told officers he didn’t threaten the victim.

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, PARAGRAPHICS: 6:08 p.m. within the 300 block of Union Avenue. Three suspects were cited for drug use in a non-public car parking zone. All three were under the influence of medicine and were arrested. Suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found close by of two suspects.

DUI: 4 a.m. within the 1800 block of South Bascom Avenue. A driver was contacted for a reported single vehicle accident. He was found to have DUI and was arrested.

VANDALISM: 6 p.m. within the 300 block of Budd Avenue. Someone wrote on the lavatory partitions.

VANDALISM: 6 p.m. within the 600 block of East Campbell Avenue. Someone wrote on the lavatory partitions.

May 22

VANDALISM: 2:55 a.m. within the 1600 block of Palo Santo Drive. Someone smashed the rear driver's side window of a vehicle. The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived since the victim was yelling.

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, DISTURBANCE AUTHORITY: 2:03 a.m. within the 100 block of Friar Way. A person was contacted after he entered a backyard without permission, called for help, after which climbed onto a roof. He was found to be under the influence of a controlled substance and was arrested.

SEXUAL ASSAULT: 5:03 p.m. within the 900 block of West Hamilton Avenue. The suspect grabbed the victim's buttocks against her will.

POSSESSION OF A BLANK CHECK, CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, UNAUTHORIZED PARAGRAPHS AND BURGLARY TOOLS: 2:45 p.m. within the 400 block of East Hamilton Avenue. During a search, a revolver frame was present in the suspect's automotive, together with meth, glass pipes and checks that didn’t belong to him.

Petty theft: 1:30 p.m. within the 400 block of Richlee Drive. Someone stole a box from the victim's porch.

ASSAULT OF A CHILD: 8 a.m. within the 300 block of Union Avenue. A student told school personnel that he was allegedly struck while eating breakfast at home. Child Protective Services was notified of the incident.

Assault with a deadly weapon: 6:15 a.m. within the 2200 block of South Bascom Avenue. Officers responded to a report of a store worker striking a customer with a stick. The suspect told officers he didn’t strike the victim, who sustained visible injuries from the stick. The victim didn’t want to prosecute.

23. May

PETTY THEFT: 11:58 a.m. within the 2300 block of Winchester Boulevard. The suspect entered a store and stole a candy bar valued at $3. The store requested criminal prosecution.

PETTY THEFT: 10:26 a.m. in the five hundred block of East Hamilton Avenue. A lady entered a store with a big duffel bag, later hid merchandise in the lavatory and passed through all the points of sale without paying. The merchandise was valued at $43.72. She was later contacted and admitted to the theft.

GROSS THEFT: 6:12 p.m. within the 1700 block of South Bascom Avenue. Someone broke right into a store, stole roughly $950 value of merchandise, and left without paying.

24 May

Grand Larceny: 8:31 p.m. within the 1700 block of South Bascom Avenue. Someone entered an open store, lifted the glass of a display case and stole quite a few perfumes. He hid the product, valued at $972, on his person and left the shop without paying.

DISTURBANCE COMPLAINT: 3:33 a.m. on the corner of South Central Avenue and Orchard City Drive. A person got right into a running garbage truck and refused to exit. He was found intoxicated in public.

Assault, public disturbance: 2:14 a.m. within the 2300 block of Winchester Boulevard. A person rammed the victim in the pinnacle after an argument. He fled the world on foot and was tracked down by police a brief distance away.

DUI: 1:07 a.m. on the intersection of North Midway Street and Ridgeley Drive. A vehicle was idling in the midst of the road. The driver was asleep in the motive force's seat while the vehicle was in motion. Open containers of alcohol were present in the vehicle and the motive force gave the impression to be inebriated.

ASSAULT: 3:15 p.m. within the 900 block of East Hamilton Avenue. During a workplace argument, a person punched his co-worker within the face, pushed him to the bottom, and wrapped his arms around him.

ELDERLY ADULT INJURY: 9:30 a.m. within the 1400 block of Elam Avenue. Someone approached an elderly victim for no apparent reason and struck him, causing his right eye to swell.

BURGLARY: 5:31 a.m. within the 00 block of Cristich Lane. The suspect arrived at a closed and secured business in a red 2016 Dodge Challenger and compelled entry into the open car parking zone. He broke into two of the business's vans and stole various items valued at roughly $1,700.

BURGLARY: 5:12 a.m. within the 1300 block of Camden Avenue. Two suspects entered an underground parking garage in a black 2005 Ford F-150 and broke right into a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta. They stole roughly $400 value of things and fled the scene.

25. May

POSSESSION OF GIFT PIPE: 12:25 a.m. within the 1300 block of South Winchester Boulevard. A female was contacted after she was seen within the back seat of a parked vehicle with one other person in a car parking zone. The vehicle's registration was expired, but a current license plate was attached. The female admitted to being in possession of a glass pipe.

May 26

Driving under the influence: 4:21 a.m. at San Tomas Expressway and West Hamilton Avenue. A person was found asleep behind the wheel of his Audi sedan and was determined to be driving under the influence.

BODILY INJURY DUE TO DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL: 2:09 a.m. on the corner of East Hamilton and South Bascom Avenue. A person was involved in a motorcar accident. He struck and injured a pedestrian. The man exhibited objective signs and symptoms of alcohol impairment. He admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages and had bloodshot, watery eyes.

DUI: 12:59 a.m. at South Winchester Boulevard and Payne Avenue. A female was stopped for a traffic violation and was found to be driving inebriated.

DUI: 4:02 p.m. at South Winchester Boulevard and West Hamilton Avenue. A person was driving on the flawed side of the road. He was stopped and booked for DUI.

PETTY THEFT: 4:12 a.m. within the 900 block of Connie Drive. Someone stole trash cans from a driveway. The trash cans were recovered from the suspect's driveway and returned.

POSSESSION OF GIFT BOX: 11:40 p.m. on the corner of South Bascom and East Hamilton Avenue. A lady was stopped for riding her bicycle on the sidewalk. She was in possession of a glass pipe with burn residue.

Grand Larceny: 5:15 p.m. within the 1800 block of South Bascom Avenue. Someone stole a handbag valued at $2,800 from a bank.

27 May

Driving under the influence, disturbing the peace: 2:45 a.m. within the 700 block of Nido Drive. A lady and a person were involved in a disturbance outside an apartment complex. It was determined that the lady was driving under the influence. The man was arrested for public intoxication.

Driving under the influence: 12:40 a.m. on the corner of Salmar and East Hamilton Avenue. A driver was stopped for a traffic violation and located to be driving under the influence.