Trump slams Harris over Biden's 'garbage' comment

Donald Trump on Wednesday sharply criticized comments from President Joe Biden that appeared to describe supporters of the former president as “garbage.”

It's the latest twist in a back-and-forth over heated racist rhetoric that took center stage less than a week before Election Day.

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Biden's comments, which came as part of a Latino outreach call in support of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, were in response to questions about a Trump weekend rally at Madison Square Garden where one of the opening speakers, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, spoke of Puerto Rico as referred to a “floating island of garbage”.

“Joe Biden has finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters,” Trump said during a rally Wednesday in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. “He called them 'garbage,' and they mean it, even though my supporters are without question far more valuable than the corrupt Joe who lies to Kamala.”

“My answer to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can't lead America if you don't love Americans, you just can't,” he added.

On Tuesday night, Biden called the Puerto Rican community “good, decent, honorable people,” adding, “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters.” His demonization of Latinos is incomprehensible and un-American. It’s completely contradictory to everything we’ve done.”

The White House quickly insisted that Biden was not calling Trump's supporters “trash.” They released a transcript that added an apostrophe to the word “supporter”: “The only garbage I see floating out there is that of his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.”

Biden also released a clarification

“His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable,” Biden added. “That's all I wanted to say. The comments at this rally do not reflect who we are as a nation.”

Biden's comments provided a welcome distraction for Trump, who faced intense criticism over the event at Madison Square Garden, which was peppered with a series of crude and racist comments.

Beyond the Puerto Rico comment, other speakers at the event spoke of Harris' “pimp leaders” and referred to her as “the devil.” Trump's campaign distanced itself from Hinchcliffe's comments but otherwise said the New York event was a successful part of his final message in the final week before Election Day.

On Tuesday, during a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Trump said the event at Madison Square Garden was an “absolute lovefest” and sought to defuse the opposition he felt over Hinchcliffe's comments.

The joke about Puerto Rico had political consequences for Trump.

Puerto Rican trap and reggaeton singer Nicky Jam said in an Instagram post on Wednesday that he no longer supports Trump after the Hinchcliffe joke. He said he initially supported the former president because he “thought he was best for the economy.”

Biden's comment, however, gives Trump an easy opportunity to flip the script, similar to how 2016 Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton said some of Trump's supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables,” a title Trump's supporters eventually adopted as a way out used to portray Clinton as out of touch.

A Trump campaign official said they planned to aggressively use Biden's remark to attack Democrats.

“We will blot out the sun with this,” the official said.

The Biden comments also marred a rally by Harris on Tuesday evening that was supposed to deliver her closing argument. The large event took place at the Ellipse, the same place where Trump spoke on January 6, 2021, before his supporters rioted at the US Capitol.

On Wednesday, Harris was forced to distance herself from Biden's comments.

“Let me be clear that I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she told reporters.