By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-30 15:57:40 | Updated at 2024-11-06 06:00:30
6 days ago
Republicans raged after President Biden called Trump supporters “garbage” Tuesday night, vowing to turn up at the polls in numbers and defeat the Democratic Party on Nov. 5.
The fallout began immediately after Biden made the remark in a campaign call Tuesday night, when Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) stopped former President Donald Trump midway through his Allentown, Pa., rally to inform him and the audience of Biden’s insult.
“He’s talking about the Border Patrol. He’s talking about nurses. He’s talking about teachers. He’s talking about everyday Americans who love their country and want to dream big again and support you,” Rubio said, calling for an apology by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The 45th president made a long post on Truth Social afterwards, saying he was “running a campaign of positive solutions” while Harris is “running a campaign of hate” — noting that Biden’s latest slip shows “you can’t lead America is [sic] you don’t love the American people.”
Biden, 81, made the comment during a call with the Voto Latino group while Harris’ ralled at the nearby Ellipse in Washington, DC — just as she was trying to make the argument that the Democratic Party would unify the country.
The president was denouncing comments made by comic Tony Hinchcliffe, in which he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” Biden had said on the call.
Republicans quickly drew parallels to Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables” in 2016 — but said Biden’s direct slight was even worse.
“Obama called us clingers. Hillary called us deplorables. Kamala calls us fascists. And Biden just called us garbage. They don’t respect us & don’t want unity. But we do. We want to Make America Great Again. Our coalition is for ALL AMERICANS. And in 7 days, we will UNITE AMERICA,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) wrote on X.
The Trump campaign’s response also mentioned the previous years of insults, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “Harris, Walz, and Biden have labeled these great Americans as fascists, Nazis, and now, garbage.”
“There’s no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him. Kamala does not deserve four more years. President Trump will be a president for ALL Americans,” Leavitt added.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), piled on with a statement of his own.
“A mother mourning her son who died of a fentanyl overdose is not garbage,” Vance wrote on X. “A truck driver who can’t afford rising diesel prices is not garbage. A father who wants to afford groceries is not garbage. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden ought to be ashamed of themselves.”
“Joe Biden called half the country (and 2/3 of Arkansans!) ‘garbage,'” added Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). “That’s not a gaffe: it’s what he and Kamala Harris genuinely think about you. Please get out to vote for President Trump and our great Republican candidates to show what YOU think of Biden and Harris!”
Cotton, among others, pointed out that Democrats melted down in outrage over Hinchcliffe’s initial joke about the island of Puerto Rico, but thought nothing of Biden using the same word to describe people.
“Kamala Harris was deeply outraged by a comedian’s joke. If she has any decency or integrity, she will condemn her partner Joe Biden’s despicable statement calling half the country garbage,” the Arkansas senator wrote.
Harris addressed her White House partner’s “garbage” remark Wednesday morning at Joint Base Andrews.
“I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she said on the tarmac next to Air Force Two.
Biden and the White House tried to temper the comment by editing the official transcript to put an apostrophe in “supporters” — suggesting the president was referring to Hinchcliffe — and the 81-year-old tried to run cover on X by saying, “his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say.”
Harris expressed anger about the initial comment from Hinchcliffe, arguing at the time that Trump was “fanning the flame of hate and division.”
The veep also took the opportunity to announce her plan to create an “Opportunity Economy Task Force focused on Puerto Rico” to broaden investment opportunities for the American territory.
The Harris-Walz campaign also rushed out an ad tying Hinchcliffe’s comment to the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017, in which Harris narrated: “I will never forget what Donald Trump did. He abandoned the island and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
