Stefanik and Comer are trying to turn Biden’s reaction to a comedian’s “trash” joke into a scandal

How Donald Trump and his allies continue to try to prevent the consequences of the comedian’s actions Tony Hinchcliffe calls Puerto Rico ‘Floating island of trash’ House GOP leaders are seeking to keep President Joe Biden’s verbal gaffe over the incident front and center in the final days of the election.

IN letter To White House counsel Edward Siskel on Friday, Reps. Elise Stefanik, the House GOP Conference chairwoman from New York, and James Comer, the House Oversight Committee chairman from Kentucky, asked the White House to provide documents and internal communications about the “garbage” comments. Biden. . They also demanded that the White House release a copy of the transcript sent to the National Archives and that the chief executive of the White House Stenographic Office brief the Oversight Committee.

Biden commented on a conversation with Latino activists on Tuesday, criticizing Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico. Biden was initially reported to have said, “The only trash I see out there are his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.” The transcript of Biden’s White House speech included an apostrophe: “The only trash I see out there is the trash of his supporters.” In either case, the apostrophe will not be heard when spoken.

Republicans took advantage of this confusion, although Biden, who known for his stumbling speech and there is prone to gaffes – Later sent to X that he was referring to the “hateful rhetoric toward Puerto Rico spewed by a Trump supporter at his rally at Madison Square Garden.” (My colleague Zeeshan Aleem goes into detail about Republican reaction to Biden’s comments.)

Republican Party leaders announced Wednesday that they start of investigation to Biden’s comments and transcript. In their Friday letter to Siskel, they cited the report Associated Press that the White House changed the official transcript of Biden’s call to include an apostrophe in the word “supporters” after the press corps “conferred with the President.” (NBC News, citing a person familiar with the situation, reported that the White House updated the transcript after speaking with Biden about his remark.)

Stefanik and Comer questioned whether White House officials violated federal law when they reportedly altered the official transcript of Biden’s remarks. “The White House cannot simply rewrite President Biden’s rhetoric,” they wrote, suggesting he is doing so “to protect” Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

His It’s worth keeping in mind that when Trump was president, the White House repeatedly changed transcripts his comments, sometimes even omitting some of his more controversial remarks entirely.

Much has been made about how Hinchcliffe’s offensive joke could affect the Puerto Rican vote, especially in swing states. With the election just days away, it’s equally unclear how serious or influential Stefanik and Comer’s concerns about Biden’s response — and their attempts to pin Harris on the gaffe — will be.