WASHINGTON (AP) — The President joe biden swiped against donald trump’s Supporters react to the Republican presidential candidate’s remarks on Tuesday. weekend gathering Madison Square Garden was overshadowed by crude and racist rhetoric.
In a call sponsored by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden responded: comics President Trump called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” at a rally. Biden’s initial comments were garbled.
“Just the other day, a speaker at a rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. “I don’t know Puerto Ricans. They are good, decent, honorable people,” he said.
The president continued, “The only garbage I see is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American. It goes completely against everything we’ve ever done.”
White House press secretary Andrew Bates said that Biden “called the hateful comments he made at the Madison Square Garden rally ‘garbage.'”
Biden then privately clarified his remarks on social media.
“Earlier today, I referred to the hateful anti-Puerto Rican rhetoric spewed by Trump supporters at the Madison Square Garden rally as garbage. That’s the only word I can think of to describe it,” he told X. Posted. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I wanted to say. The comments at that rally do not reflect who we are as a nation.”
But Mr. Biden’s tone, calling Mr. Trump’s supporters “trash,” is at odds with the message Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is trying to present as she aims to appeal broadly, including to disaffected Republicans. Ta. Shortly after Biden’s comments, Harris spoke from the Ellipse in Washington, vowing to be a president who unites the country.
“I pledge to be a president for all Americans,” said Harris, Biden’s vice president.
Republicans were quick to emphasize Biden’s remarks. President Trump called the Florida senator. marco rubio He told what happened during a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
“A while ago Joe Biden said our supporters, our patriots, are trash,” Rubio said. “He’s talking about the everyday lives of Americans who love their country.”
A subsequent Trump campaign fundraiser declared, “Kamala’s boss, Joe Biden, called all my supporters trash!” before assuring the recipient that Trump himself thinks, “You’re great!”
Even some prominent Democrats have begun to distance themselves from Biden’s comments. Pennsylvania’s governor said on CNN: Josh Shapiro “I will never disrespect the good people of Pennsylvania or the American people, even if they choose to support a candidate that I do not support,” he said.
Comments remind me of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton dismiss playing cards At a fundraiser in New York in 2016, supporters said half of the basket of deplorables”
Clinton later called that characterization “completely general.” But the remark became a defiant rallying cry for many Trump supporters, who say the insult encapsulates the elitist attitude of Clinton and the Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, amid reactions to Biden’s response, Trump was asked about racist and vulgar jokes at a rally in New York in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. . He replied: “Someone said there was a comedian who made jokes about Puerto Rico or something, and I had no idea who he was.”
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The former president added: “I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
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With just a week left until Election Day, Biden has been working on: stay relevantwhere Harris furiously touted her administration’s accomplishments during her race against Trump.
But his efforts to stay in the political spotlight aren’t necessarily all that helpful to the top of the Democratic ticket he’s currently pushing. That’s because Harris has been harshly critical of Trump for months, repeatedly calling him “unstable” and “unstable,” and even saying, fascist”She has been careful not to criticize his supporters.
In fact, the vice president has campaigned extensively with former Republicans. liz cheney and other former Republicans hope to attract voters beyond conservative circles. The Democratic National Convention and Harris ads highlighted the stories of ordinary Americans who said they voted for Trump in the past but now say they support the vice president.
On Tuesday’s call, Biden also said Trump “doesn’t care about the Latino community,” even though the Trump campaign has cited Biden’s growing support among Hispanics, especially men. Nevertheless, the former president insisted on his refusal.
“Vote to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” Biden said. “He is a real danger, not just to Latinos, but to all people, especially minorities in this country.”
