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Did White House change Biden's 'garbage statement' on Trump supporters?

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On Tuesday, Biden ’s 'garbage' remarks at a Voto Latino event escalated into a fierce political firestorm. "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American," Biden had said.

In the official White House transcript, Republicans claimed that Biden's words were subtly edited, changing "supporters" to "supporter's" and altering the sentence structure. This modification shifts the meaning from Biden calling Trump’s supporters "garbage" to implying that he was referring to the garbage belonging to Trump's supporters.


Twitter users were quick to latch onto the edits, with one claiming, "The regime is now lying to the American people and altering official White House transcripts despite video evidence. This is what fascism looks like. This is how little respect the regime has for us. On Nov. 5th, the American people take out the garbage." Another user echoed the sentiment, stating, "The official White House transcript is just straight-up lying about what Joe Biden said, even though it's clearly on video." One user posted, “Biden’s verbal gaffe overshadowed Kamala’s big speech."

The controversy began when Biden reacted to a comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally who reportedly described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” Biden, visibly frustrated, rebuked the insult, saying, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” This strong language led to an immediate backlash from Republicans, who accused the President of disparaging the entire MAGA base. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates later clarified, saying Biden was only referring to “hateful rhetoric” as “garbage” rather than Trump’s supporters as a whole.

Despite the clarification, Biden’s comments echoed Hillary Clinton’s 2016 “basket of deplorables” moment, a phrase widely embraced by Trump supporters who saw it as emblematic of Democratic elitism. Trump’s campaign swiftly capitalised on the perceived insult. National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement condemning Biden’s comment, arguing he had dismissed a wide swathe of Americans, including “Latinos, Black voters, union workers, law enforcement officers,” as “garbage.” Former Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy even called Biden’s words the “2024 version of deplorables.”

Biden attempted to temper the rhetoric in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, writing, “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter…as garbage…His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable.” This clarification, however, did little to halt the onslaught of criticism from Trump’s allies and supporters. In fact, the reaction on social media was swift, with some MAGA backers claiming Biden’s comment overshadowed Vice President Kamala Harris’s unity-focused speech that same day.
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