Biden tries to clarify his "garbage" comment as Republicans say he insults all Trump supporters

Topline

President Joe Biden appeared to call Donald Trump's supporters “trash” on Tuesday while denouncing a derogatory remark about Puerto Rico at the former president's rally at Madison Square Garden – which drew criticism from the Trump campaign – before clarified that he was using the word to describe “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico.”

US President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his administration's Investing in America agenda. … (+) Port of Baltimore.

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Important facts

In a video aimed at Latino voters, Biden criticized comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at Trump's rally on Sunday in New York City.

The president called Puerto Ricans “good, decent, honorable people” before appearing to say, “The only trash I see floating around out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is incomprehensible and un-American.”

The White House released a transcript of Biden's call — which reads, “His supporter's demonization of Latinos” — with the apostrophe indicating the nonsensical comment was directed at Hinchcliffe.

The comments were immediately seized upon by Trump's allies, who accused Biden of calling half the country “trash,” equating it to Hillary Clinton's 2016 comments in which she described Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables.” “designated.

In a press statement, Trump's campaign accused Biden of offending “tens of millions of Americans” and asked whether Harris would “apologize and disavow Joe Biden's comments.”

Biden gave up

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Main critic

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, criticized Biden’s comments on X: “That’s disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half the country. There is no excuse for this. I hope Americans reject it.” In a follow-up post, Vance wrote, “Will the networks that obsessively covered a comedian's joke at a Trump rally cover up the fact that Kamala Harris' campaign is insulting half the country? “

How did Trump react to Biden's “garbage” remark?

At a Trump campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, read former President Biden's remarks. Trump said, “That's terrible,” before bringing up Clinton's 2016 “basket of deplorables” and adding, “Garbage is worse in my opinion, right?” The former president added, “But he knows it not. You must please forgive him. Please forgive him because he doesn’t know what he said.”