President Joe Biden caused controversy this past week when he referred to former President Donald Trump's supporters as "garbage."

Yet the White House has since been accused of attempting to illegally cover up what the president actually said. 

"The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters"

In a report published on Thursday, the Associated Press cited two government officials as saying that a transcript of the virtual call which Biden was on has been altered.

In a viral video clip, the president can be clearly heard saying, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters."

So, here is the president calling any American voting for the Republican candidate “floating pieces of garbage.” Let’s send this worthless fool back to his basement, send his cackling border czar back to San Francisco, and reclaim America from these vermin pic.twitter.com/cX4pj7fdoC

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) October 30, 2024

"The transcript released by the White House press office, however, rendered the quote with an apostrophe, reading ‘supporter’s’ rather than ‘supporters,'" the Associated Press noted.

White House email references change to transcripts

"If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently," a White House supervisor was quoted as saying in an email obtained by the news service.

"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," the email added.

Meanwhile, Fox News reported that House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer sought answers from White House counsel Edward Siskel.

They wrote in a letter that "Americans were rightfully insulted" after Biden "referred to an enormous swath of the country as 'floating … garbage."

Lawmakers cite Presidential Records Act of 1978

"President Biden's vindictive words were unsurprising, given his previous statements regarding people who choose not to vote for his preferred candidate," Stefanik and Comer stressed.

"Unsurprising too were the White House’s actions after he said them," the pair continued before adding that "instead of apologizing or clarifying President Biden’s words," the White House sought to "change them (despite them being recorded on video) by releasing a false transcript of his remarks."

"The move is not only craven, but it also appears to be in violation of federal law, including the Presidential Records Act of 1978," Stefanik and Comer asserted as they drew to a close.

For his part, Trump made light of Biden's comments by donning a reflective vest and questions from reporters in a garbage truck.