Biden tries to clarify confusing 'garbage' comments as Trump and his supporters cry foul
President made garbled comments on video chat with organization encouraging Hispanic vote turnout
U.S. President Joe Biden's supposed attempt to call out racist remarks by a speaker at a campaign rally for Donald Trump backfired as Trump and other Republicans accused him of calling their supporters "garbage."
Just days ahead of a close contest between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Trump that will decide who takes control of the world's leading economy, Biden and his White House quickly sought to stem any further fallout from the gaffe.
The saga started when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" at a rally at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday, one of a series of vulgar and racist remarks by Trump allies at the event, which Trump has described as a "love fest."
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Speaking during a fundraising call on Tuesday with the organization Voto Latino, Biden said, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter's — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it's un-American," according to a transcript posted on X by a White House spokesperson.
Several news organizations cited the same quote but without the apostrophe amid criticism that Biden had appeared to direct his garbage comment at Trump supporters more broadly.
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…
—@JoeBidenBiden also sought to clarify matters 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," he posted.
"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."
Trump campaign, Vance seize on remarks
However, Republicans seized on the comment, comparing it to a remark by Hillary Clinton in 2016 referring to Trump supporters as "deplorables." Clinton later lost to Trump in a major election upset.
The Trump campaign pounced on Biden remarks in a statement.
"There's no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don't just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him," campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, adding, "Donald Trump will be a president for ALL Americans."
Trump's running mate, JD Vance, said: "This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country."
Vance had earlier defended Hinchcliffe's comment, saying: "We have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America."
The comments could put Harris surrogates on the defensive just as she's coming off a praised speech Tuesday night in front of ten of thousands, in a way that Republican officials backing Trump were earlier this month when they tried to explain the candidate's "enemy within" comments directed at Democratic critics.
Harris, en route to a campaign stop early Wednesday, told reporters she would be a president for all people, including those who didn't vote for her, if elected. She pointed to Biden clarifying his remarks.
"I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for," she said.
Biden history with gaffes
Biden's remarks will have no impact on the estimated 50 million Americans who've already taken advantage of early voting options, according to tracking from the University of Florida's Election Lab data.
Multiple polls of likely voters have pegged the undecided vote as being in the single digits, percentage-wise, but the Trump campaign will undoubtedly try and use the comments to mobilize would-be supporters who have been undecided about voting at all.
Republicans have tried to make political currency out of Biden's propensity to fumble remarks before, putting online a "Biden gaffe clock" during the 2008 election campaign, when he was a vice-presidential nominee.
Biden was chosen by Barack Obama as a running mate that year, months after he referred to Obama as "first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
Biden admitted in late 2018 as he pondered a third presidential run that he was a "gaffe machine."
"I am a gaffe machine, but my God what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can't tell the truth," he said, referring to Trump.
With files from CBC News