The White House and Vice President Kamala Harris continued to clear their campaigns Wednesday of President Joe Biden’s “rubbish” comments, even as former President Donald Trump took over and the controversy dominated the news cycle, detracting from Harris’ “closing argument.” .”
On Tuesday night, Biden appeared to call Trump supporters “garbage” during a call for the nonprofit Voto Latino campaign.
“And the other day, during his appearance, a speaker called him Puerto Rico “a moving island of garbage,” Biden said, according to a video clip from the fundraiser that aired on CNN.
“I don’t — I — I don’t know that Puerto Rican — that I know of — or a Puerto Rican, where I’m at — in my hometown of Delaware, they’re good. The only trash I see decent and honorable people are his supporters — his- — his demonization of Latinos is absurd, and it’s un-American. It’s completely counterproductive,” Biden said.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a video speech in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 29, 2024, in this screenshot obtained from handout video.
Votolatino via Reuters
His comments drew fire from Republicans and came as Harris was giving his closing speech at the Ellipse, urging Americans to turn the page on hateful rhetoric and the divisiveness of American politics.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at The Ellipse, south of the White House, on October 29, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
At a campaign rally in Mount Rock, North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump linked Harris to Biden’s comments.
“Now speaking on his campaign call last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala our supporters really think. He called them trash. And they mean it,” Trump said.
“Although without a doubt my supporters are of a higher quality than Crooked Joe or Lyin’ Kamala,” Trump said. “My answer to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans.”
Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on October 30, 2024 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Biden himself posted a post on Tuesday night saying his comment was about the comedian who made a joke and referred to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump supporters at his rally in Madison Square Garden as trash — that’s the only word. Describing it.” I can think of.”
“The demonization of Latinos is senseless. That’s all I wanted to say. The comments at that rally do not reflect who we are as a nation,” Biden said in the X post.
During the daily briefing, reporters pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Biden’s comments.
“No, he doesn’t see Trump supporters or anyone who supports Trump as trash,” Jean-Pierre insisted.
“The president has been doing that for over three years, he’s said more than once that he’s the president for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you live in a red state, it doesn’t matter if you live in a blue state.”
Asked if Biden had misspoken or regretted his remarks, President Jean-Pierre replied that he had “clarified what he said” to make sure it was not “out of context”.
“He took the extra step to clarify. And, you know, you don’t see that from a lot of elected officials, you certainly didn’t see that from the former president. And this president wanted to make sure it wasn’t taken out of context,” Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre said the president spoke with Harris after his speech Tuesday night to congratulate him. He would not say, however, whether Biden apologized or referred to his comment when they spoke.
For his part, Harris tried to distance himself from the comments. In an interview with ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, Harris was asked how he felt when he heard his “garbage” remark.
“Well, first of all, I think the president has explained what he meant,” Harris told Bruce. “But I said earlier, I totally disagree with any criticism of the people who vote and I’ve made that clear throughout my career, including my speech last night, I think before this all happened, that is, I want to be the president of all Americans, and including those who may not vote for me in this election.”
But this incident isn’t the first time the White House and Harris’ campaign have had to play cleanup after a Biden gaffe raised eyebrows. Last week Biden was talking about Trump and said, “We need to lock him up. Lock him down politically.”
The comments also come as Biden plans to travel to the Pennsylvania battleground later this week for official campaign and events. Jean-Pierre said he plans to adjust his schedule for now.
ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Will McDuffie and Alexandra Hurtzler contributed to this report.
