WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden is facing criticism after he appeared to call supporters of former President Trump “garbage” during a virtual speech on Oct. 29.
Biden’s comments were made during a Zoom call with Voto Latino, a nonprofit aimed at registering Latinos to vote, in which Biden referenced stand-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s remarks about Puerto Rico during Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City earlier this week.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage,” Biden said.
The president then added: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”
The White House and Biden have since sought to backtrack on the comments.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates posted the transcript of the remarks stating that the president said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s.” This, Bates said, “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’”
Biden, in a post on social media platform X, said that his comment was in reference to what he called Trump’s “demonization of Latinos.”
“That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Biden’s remarks drew a quick rebuke from the Trump side. Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in a statement said that “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him.”
Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), on X called Biden’s comment “disgusting,” saying that “Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country.”
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was asked on CNN about the comments, said: “I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn’t support.”
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who in recent months has emerged as a major surrogate and donor to the Trump campaign, wrote on his platform X that “Biden just called half of America ‘garbage’”
The comments also drew the ire from the crowd at a Trump rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told the crowd about Biden’s comments.
“Moments ago, Joe Biden stated that our supporters are garbage,” Rubio announced during the rally.
“I hope their campaign is about to apologize for what Joe Biden just said. We are not garbage. We are patriots who love America.”
Trump drew a parallel between Biden’s comment and those made by then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who in September 2016 said, “You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.”
The comments at the time sparked fierce backlash. In a 2017 memoir Clinton recounted the comment as being one of the factors that led to her election loss.
Controversial Joke
Hinchcliffe, who appeared as a guest speaker at the Trump rally, called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage.” The comedian’s remarks, which included jokes about Latinos, soon made headlines.Democrats and some Republicans including Florida Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Rubio condemned the comedian’s comments.
The Trump campaign also issued a statement on Oct. 28, distancing itself from the comedian.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez told The Epoch Times.
