The White House press service edited a transcript of a speech in which US President Joe Biden called supporters of presidential candidate Donald Trump “trash,” the Associated Press reported, citing internal correspondence.

Earlier at a Trump rally, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico a “floating trash island.” Biden responded to the joke on Tuesday, telling the Latino group that the trash were Trump supporters , according to a transcript prepared by official White House stenographers . However, in the transcript released by the White House press office, the quote was edited so that the criticism was directed at Hinchcliffe and not at the millions of Americans who supported Trump’s presidential bid.

The changes were made after the press office “consulted with the President,” according to an internal email from the chief stenographer obtained by the news agency. In the letter, the head of the office called the press office’s actions “a violation of protocol and the integrity of documents between the stenographer and the publishing department.”

The redaction of the transcript comes as the White House scrambles to respond to a wave of questions about Biden’s controversial comments, the news agency noted.

Trump staged a photo shoot in a garbage truck to try to leverage Biden’s statement for his own campaign’s benefit.