Biden Appears to Insult Trump Supporters as ‘Garbage,’ but Quickly Tries to Clarify

Biden Appears to Insult Trump Supporters as ‘Garbage,’ but Quickly Tries to Clarify

In a posting on social media, President Biden said he was talking about racist language, not Trump supporters.

• Share full article

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Reporting from Washington

President Biden on Tuesday denounced racist language at former President Donald J. Trump’s recent rally but appeared to insult Trump supporters as “garbage,” prompting waves of criticism from Republicans.

The White House quickly objected to that interpretation of the president’s remarks, arguing that he was instead describing the racist language as “garbage,” not Trump supporters.

The comments came as Mr. Biden was addressing Latino supporters by video. “Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,’” Mr. Biden said, referring to a riff by Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian and Trump supporter who spoke at the rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Mr. Biden said Puerto Ricans are “good, decent honorable people.” Then he went on: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”

The White House released a transcript that showed Mr. Biden was saying “his supporter’s” demonization, meaning that Mr. Hinchcliffe’s demonization was garbage.

But Republicans seized on the seeming gaffe, comparing it to a comment by Hillary Clinton in 2016 when she referred to Trump supporters as “deplorables.”

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, Mr. Trump’s running mate, said: “This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country.” Just one day earlier, Mr. Vance brushed off the Puerto Rico island-of-garbage comment, saying, “We have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America.”

Mr. Biden issued a statement on social media trying to clarify.

“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 wrote. “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.”

But regardless of his intent, Mr. Biden’s words sparked backlash against his party and effectively moved the spotlight — at least temporarily — away from Vice President Kamala Harris on the evening in which she delivered the closing argument of her campaign. Ms. Harris has tried to persuade voters that she represents change while being careful not to criticize Mr. Biden.

After Mr. Biden’s remark, Harris campaign officials privately gauged whether his comments would require her to disagree with him publicly or support his explanation that the comments were taken out of context, according to people familiar with the internal reaction. They asked for anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

But some Democrats were not waiting to distance themselves from Mr. Biden’s remark. “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,” Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania told CNN on Tuesday night.

The outrage expressed by Republicans was also politically convenient, given that Mr. Biden’s remarks came two days after Mr. Trump’s rally, which was full of racist and misogynistic statements.

While speaking at the Trump rally, Mr. Hinchcliffe mocked Hispanics as failing to use birth control. Another speaker likened Ms. Harris to a prostitute with “pimp handlers.” Still another called her the “Antichrist.”

Mr. Trump as president fought bitterly with Puerto Rican leaders and resisted sending them billions of dollars in aid after the territory was slammed by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017.

The Trump campaign quickly turned Mr. Biden’s comment into an appeal for fund-raising. “KAMALA’S BOSS JOE BIDEN JUST CALLED ALL MY SUPPORTERS GARBAGE,” the Trump campaign said in a text to supporters.

But Mr. Trump himself has excoriated Biden and Harris supporters — and most of those willing to criticize him — and threatened to seek political retribution on political enemies if he makes it to the White House. He has framed Democrats as the “enemy from within” and indicated that 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 for the world.”

Katie Rogers contributed reporting.