Trump supporters at Green Bay rally shrug off Biden's "garbage" comment

GREEN BAY – Supporters of former President Donald Trump before his rally here Wednesday largely dismissed comments made by President Joe Biden this week in which he called Trump supporters “trash.”

Most of the nearly two dozen people interviewed by the Journal Sentinel while waiting in line at Trump's rally in Green Bay did not appear bothered by Biden's comments Tuesday. But a handful of others called a president's rhetoric divisive and disturbing.

“You know, we were called deplorable in 2016. Now we are deplorable trash,” De Pere’s Naralyn Durbin said, referencing a remark made by Hillary Clinton. “So that’s fine. I'll take it. That’s better than being called a liberal.”

“I’ll wipe it off. He’s not quite there,” said Tom Gibson, a 76-year-old from Green Bay, referring to Biden. “But I’m surprised I don’t see anyone carrying a trash can today. It will probably be here.”

“That’s not something a president should really comment on,” said Brandon Sellisen, also of Green Bay. “I mean, it happens. But I don’t think it’s successful to beat up supporters of other parties.”

Biden's comments came during a virtual call Tuesday with the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino. During the call, Biden was asked about a comedian at a Trump rally in New York on Sunday who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” and made other racist comments about Latinos.

Biden responded by calling Puerto Ricans “good, decent, honorable people” before adding, “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters. “His demonization of Latinos is incomprehensible and un-American.”

The White House said the president was referring to rhetoric at Sunday's rally at Madison Square Garden, and Biden later tried to clarify his remarks in a tweet.

“Today I called the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico expressed by Trump supporters at his rally at Madison Square Garden trash – that's the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I wanted to say. The comments at this rally do not reflect who we are as a nation,” Biden wrote.

The comments about Puerto Ricans were condemned by Democrats, who called the rhetoric racist and offensive. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris and Vice President Compared the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden to a Nazi rally at the same location in 1939.

Republicans, in turn, have seized on Biden's comments and said the rhetoric was an attack on almost half of the US population

“Kamala's boss and the sitting president of the United States last night called trash tens of millions of Americans, including every Wisconsin resident who proudly supports President Donald J. Trump,” the Wisconsin branch of the Trump Office said Wednesday. Campaign.

Just outside Lambeau Field on Wednesday, some supporters shared similar sentiments.

“It upset me,” said James Renner, who drove to the rally from his home in Marquette, Michigan. Renner noted that a comedian made the derogatory comments about Puerto Ricans.

“Joe Biden is not a comedian and all he did was call 50% or more of the country trash. These are Americans and this is disgusting,” he said.

Drew Domalick, a 37-year-old Green Bay resident, wore a “Deplorable Me” shirt as he walked his dog outside the rally venue. He said he was trying to “tune out” the divisive rhetoric from both parties, including from Trump.

“To me, this is part of the election, the political cycle,” Domalick said. “You have to say things to get into the media. If you don’t say anything that’s even slightly in line with the public, the media won’t cover you.”

“Both sides say it,” he added. “The reason I don’t support Biden is not because he said anything inflammatory, but because I don’t support his policies.”

Still, many Trump supporters told the Journal Sentinel that the comments didn't bother them. Some criticized Biden because of his age, but others sent a different message: “We know who we are.”

“I think it (as well as the) comment is unfortunate,” said Jamie Longsine of Green Bay. “It’s a badge of honor. I consider it a badge of honor. I don’t care what he thinks.”

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