patsubst: Whitespaces are not replaced by spaces | Possible issue in make or the documentation

Hello,

I am currently taking a closer look at the `patsubst` function in
`make`. The documentation [1] says
> Whitespace between words is folded into single space characters; leading and trailing whitespace is discarded. 

I have now created a example file (see attachment):
```
code := $(patsubst ,,  int index  =  10;	// Hier wird x auf 10
gesetzt  )

beispiel_zeigen:
	echo "$(code)"

.PHONY: beispiel_zeigen
```
However, the result contains the original whitespaces:
```
echo "  char index  =  10;	// Hier wird x auf 10 gesetzt  "
  char index  =  10;	// Hier wird x auf 10 gesetzt  
```

My make version:
```
$ make --version
GNU Make 4.4.1
Built for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
Copyright (C) 1988-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
<https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html> This is free software: you are free
to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by law. ```

Is this a bug, an issue in the documentation or am I doing something
wrong?

I would appreciate an answer!

Regards
Marek Küthe

[1]
https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Text-Functions.html

-- 
Marek Küthe
[email protected]
er/ihm he/him

code := $(patsubst ,,  int index  =  10;	// Hier wird x auf 10 gesetzt  )

beispiel_zeigen:
	echo "$(code)"

.PHONY: beispiel_zeigen

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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=mJbc
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----