President Joe Biden kisses first lady Jill Biden during a fireworks show at a Fourth of July celebration at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

In a continued effort to keep mainstream media focused on reports of cocaine found at the White House, major conservative accounts cut short audio of a White House spokesperson addressing it while highlighting former President Donald Trump’s policy failures.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates’ answer to a question Thursday during a press gaggle regarding such media reports on was to answer cautiously due “to be[ing] careful about the Hatch Act.” The Republican National Committee’s official “research” account clipped 39 seconds of the exchange to make it seem Bates’s response ended there.

As noted by former Lawrence County (Tenn.) Commissioner Chris Jackson, the version of this clip circulating in conservative media leaves out the remainder of Bates’ answer, which notes that “there does seem to be some increasing frustration coming from that corner in general. And I think it is probably rooted in the contrast between their substantive policy records.”

He continued: “As you have all covered, there is a long list of areas where this administration succeeded for the middle class where our predecessor did not. For example, infrastructure is no longer a punchline. And now the biggest infrastructure investments in 70 years are rebuilding America.”

After highlighting the Biden administration’s accomplishments, Bates concluded: “It would be unsurprising if there’s a little bit of frustration on the part of people who worked in the last administration.”

See below for the entirety of Bates’ answer:

REPORTER: One more. You know, President — former President Trump has made some pretty wild posts recently on social media. One of them was that the cocaine found in the White House was — had belonged to either the President or his son. Are you willing to say that that’s not the case, that they don’t belong to them?

BATES: I don’t have a response to that because we have to be careful about the Hatch Act.

What I will say is that I have noticed there does seem to be some increasing frustration coming from that corner in general. And I think it is probably rooted in the contrast between their substantive policy records.

As you have all covered, there is a long list of areas where this administration succeeded for the middle class where our predecessor did not. For example, infrastructure is no longer a punchline. And now the biggest infrastructure investments in 70 years are rebuilding America.

President Biden is bringing manufacturing jobs back at the fastest rate in modern history. And like I mentioned, we have doubled the construction of manufacturing facilities in just two and a half years. Whereas during the previous administration, it only grew at an anemic two percent.

Medicare is now negotiating lower drug costs. I’m old enough to remember when that was someone else’s campaign promise.

The economy we inherited was in freefall. We turned it around by creating more jobs in two years than any other president in four.

So, it would be unsurprising if there’s a little bit of frustration on the part of people who worked in the last administration.

And, of course, this dovetails with today’s announcement from Enphase. It comes at a moment when we have crossed the threshold of $500 billion in private sector investment due to Bidenomics [sic], which is about growing our economy by growing the middle class. There is no better way to do that than giving people good jobs coming to America, thanks to policies like the Inflation Reduction Act.

Some conservatives are attempting to keep the story relevant by pushing an unproven rumor that the cocaine, which was found in a cubby of a guest lobby, belonged to Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Trump himself proposed the idea on his Truth Social website, many conservatives — including U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), James Comer (R-KY) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) as well as conservative media hosts Megyn Kelly and Julie Banderas — pushed the rumor throughout the week.