The president later issued a statement backtracking on his comments.
WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden is facing criticism after he appeared to call supporters of former President Trump “garbage” during a virtual speech on Oct. 29.
Biden’s comments were made during a Zoom call with Voto Latino, a nonprofit aimed at registering Latinos to vote, in which Biden referenced stand-up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s remarks about Puerto Rico during Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City earlier this week.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage,” Biden said.
The president then added: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”
The White House and Biden have since sought to backtrack on the comments.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates posted the transcript of the remarks stating that the president said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s.” This, Bates said, “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’”
Biden, in a post on social media platform X, said that his comment was in reference to what he called Trump’s “demonization of Latinos.”
“That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Biden’s remarks drew a quick rebuke from the Trump side. Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in a statement said that “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him.”
Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), on X called Biden’s comment “disgusting,” saying that “Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country.”
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was asked on CNN about the comments, said: “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.”
By Emel Akan
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