An apparent White House bid to clean up President Joe Biden’s latest gaffe with a stealthy transcript tweak is drawing widespread meme mockery.
Biden on Friday railed about the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, reading from a teleprompter and calling the decision an “exercise in raw power.” But when he quoted the majority decision, he appeared to read instructions inserted by his speechwriter.
“Women are not without electoral or political power, it is noteworthy that the percentage of women who register to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so, end of quote, repeat the line,” Biden thundered.
That drew plenty of virtual laughter Friday afternoon, but the Biden blooper had vanished by the time the official transcript of the speech came out.
“Let me repeat the line,” Biden said, or at least meant to say, according to the transcript.
After a wave of Twitter ridicule, White House Assistant Press Secretary Emelie Simons insisted Biden didn’t actually read the teleprompter instructions.
“No. He said, ‘let me repeat that line,’” Simons said in a tweet.
Judge for yourself:
Joe Biden accidentally reads the part on the teleprompter that says "repeat the line" when they wanted him to say the line again lmfao pic.twitter.com/pS3GdXPe5N
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 8, 2022
“They are spitting in your face & telling you it’s rain,” tweeted popular YouTube lawyer Viva Frei, who recently moved from Canada to Florida. “@White House [is] modifying the transcript to pretend POTUS’ obvious gaffe was intended to be part of the speech. It says though they think the video doesn’t exist. Or people will choose to believe the lie.”
White House transcript of Biden remarks is now incorrectly aligned with what this WH assistant press secretary falsely claimed on Twitter, despite the video showing Biden clearly stating “End of quote. Repeat the line.” & *not* “Let me repeat the line.”https://t.co/fJrzgfdbEy https://t.co/GX3zftIEtB pic.twitter.com/snrRHnHRIr
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 8, 2022
It’s not the first time Biden has struggled with the teleprompter or revealed his dependence on careful instructions from his handlers.
Last month, a sharp-eyed reporter noticed the back of Biden’s notecard before a discussion with union and private sector leaders on wind energy showed step-by-step instructions, including the words “YOU take YOUR seat.”
In April, a handler dressed as the Easter bunny steered Biden away from delivering off-the-cuff remarks about Afghanistan and Pakistan.