During Anthony Scaramucci‘s first press conference after becoming the new White House communications director, he tried to paint President Donald Trump as a “very, very” competitive man.
Scaramucci said he’s seen Trump throw “a dead spiral” through a tire, hit foul shots in Madison Square Garden in a top coat, and said he “sinks three-foot putts.”
“The president’s a winner, and what we’re going to do is, we’re going to do a lot of winning,” he said.
But if you didn’t watch the press briefing and decided to read the transcript instead, you would find a different, more flattering version of the golfing claim.
In the transcript of the briefing on the White House website, the “three-foot putts” that Scaramucci referenced has been changed to “30-foot putts.”
Here’s Scaramucci’s original statement:
And here is the official White House transcript:
Those two things don’t match.
It’s true that Trump loves golf–and he’s played frequently since becoming president and owns quite a few golf resorts.
While it’s unclear if he can actually “sink” 30-foot putts, it’s clearly not what Scaramucci said at the press conference.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request to clarify whether the change was intentional.
The altered transcript is just a small blip in the rocky first week for the new communications director.
Scaramucci started his tenure by saying he was prepared to “fire everyone” in an attempt to stop leaks coming from his office to the press. On Thursday, he said he wanted the White House to be more like Penn State and employees to act with “dignity,” like disgraced late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.
He also appeared to claim that Trump’s Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was the source of leaks coming from the White House.
Here’s condensed look at the changes from Scaramucci’s press conference and the White House transcript:
Scaramucci: Trump “sinks 3-foot putts.”
— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) July 27, 2017
White House transcript revises: “He sinks 30-foot putts.”https://t.co/VN6zXFC0K1 pic.twitter.com/gKcyJi3qUq
