President Biden on Tuesday met former President Donald J. Condemned racist language at Trump's recent rally, but appeared to insult Trump supporters by calling them “trash,” sparking a wave of criticism from Republicans.
The White House immediately objected to that interpretation of the president's comments, arguing that he was not ascribing racist language to Trump supporters, but to “trash.”
The comments came as Mr Biden addressed Latino supporters via video. “Just a few days ago, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,’” Mr. Biden said, referring to remarks by comedian and Trump supporter Tony Hinchcliffe, who spoke at the rally at Madison Square Garden . On Sunday.
Mr. Biden said Puerto Ricans are “good, decent respectable people.” He then added: “The only garbage I see floating around out there is his supporters — their, their demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American.”
The White House released a transcript showing that Mr. Biden was demonizing “his own supporter,” implying that Mr. Hinchcliffe’s demonization was garbage.
But Republicans seized on the glaring mistake and compared it to a comment Hillary Clinton made in 2016, when she called Trump supporters “deplorables.”
Mr Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, said: “This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country. Just a day earlier, Mr. Vance dismissed the Puerto Rico island-trash comment, saying, “We have to stop being so angry over every little thing in the United States of America.”
Mr Biden sought to clarify by issuing a statement on social media.
“Earlier today I called the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico from a Trump supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally trash – that's the only word I can think of to describe it,” he wrote. “Their demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say. The comments at that rally do not reflect who we are as a nation.”
But regardless of his intention, Mr. Biden's words sparked a backlash against his party that evening and effectively shifted the spotlight — at least temporarily — away from Vice President Kamala Harris, in which she spent much of her campaign. Gave closing arguments. Ms Harris has tried to convince voters that she represents change while being careful not to criticize Mr Biden.
Following Mr. Biden’s remarks, Harris campaign officials privately speculated about whether his comments would require them to publicly disagree with him or support his explanation that the comments were taken out of context, according to people familiar with the internal reaction. Was taken out of. He requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
But some Democrats were not waiting to distance themselves from Mr Biden’s comments. “I would never disrespect the good people of Pennsylvania or any American, even if they chose to support a candidate I did not support,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro told CNN on Tuesday night.
The outrage expressed by Republicans was also politically convenient, given that Mr Biden's comments came two days after Mr Trump's rally, which was filled with racist and misogynistic statements.
Speaking at a Trump rally, Mr. Hinchcliffe mocked Hispanics for failing to use birth control. Another speaker compared Ms Harris to a prostitute with “pimp operators”. Still another called him 'Antichrist'.
As president, Mr. Trump clashed bitterly with Puerto Rican leaders and opposed sending them billions of dollars in aid after a series of hurricanes battered the territory in 2017.
The Trump campaign immediately turned Mr Biden's remarks into an appeal to raise funds. “Kamala's boss Joe Biden called all of my supporters trash,” the Trump campaign said in a message to supporters.
But Mr Trump himself has incensed Biden and Harris supporters – and most of those willing to criticize him – and threatened political retribution from political enemies if he reaches the White House. He has branded Democrats the “enemy from within” and indicated he would deploy the military against American citizens. Last week, while criticizing the Biden administration's approach to the border, Mr Trump also said the United States was “like a garbage can to the world”.
katie rogers Contributed to the reporting.