President Joe Biden unintentionally drew attention away from Vice President Kamala Harris' significant 'closing' campaign speech by referring to Donald Trump’s supporters as 'garbage' in a surprising remark.
The 81-year-old president's controversial statement reminded many of Hillary Clinton's notorious 2016 comments about Trump voters as 'deplorables,' which contributed to her unexpected loss.
This occurred as Harris aimed to command the spotlight with a meticulously organized rally in front of the White House, addressing 75,000 Democrats just one week before Election Day. During the event on Tuesday evening, Harris made her final appeal, asserting she would be a unifying president 'for all Americans.'
However, on a separate Zoom call with supporters, Biden disrupted her moment by seemingly criticizing Trump supporters, a move that Republicans condemned as a 'disgusting' attack.
The president was responding to a comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally who had compared Puerto Rico to a 'floating island of garbage.'
Biden said: 'The only garbage I see floating out there is his (Trump's) supporters.'
Trump quickly reacted to Biden’s comment, calling it even 'worse' than Clinton's remarks eight years prior, leading Democrats to immediately distance themselves from the president.
Later, Biden clarified that he hadn’t intended to label Trump’s supporters as 'garbage,' explaining that he was specifically referring to the 'hateful rhetoric' displayed at the Madison Square Garden event.
The remark was made during a Zoom call hosted by the advocacy group Voto Latino.
Biden told those on the call: 'And just the other day, a speaker at his (Trump's) rally called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”.'
'Well, let me tell you something. I don't, I, I don't know the Puerto Rican that, that I know, or a Puerto Rico...where I'm from, in my home state of Delaware, they're good, decent, honorable people.
'The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters, his, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American. It's totally contrary to everything we've done, everything we've been.'
As the statement gained traction on social media, Biden attempted to control the fallout.
He said on X: 'Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage - which is the only word I can think of to describe it.
'His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation.'
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