Harris tries to brush off Biden's remark about Trump supporters and “garbage.”

HARRISBURG, Penn. (AP) — Kamala Harris On Wednesday, she urged Americans to “stop pointing fingers at each other” as she sought to move on from President Joe Biden's comments Donald Trump supporters and “trash.” ” and continue to focus on her Republican opponent in the final days of the race.

“We know that in this election we have an opportunity to end a decade of Donald Trump, who has sought to divide us and instill fear in each other,” the Democratic nominee said.

Harris held rallies in three battleground states in the final week of the election as part of a protest, with stops Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pa.; and Madison, Wisconsin.

She emphasized unity and togetherness and moved on her closing speech on Tuesday in Washingtonwhere she laid out what her team called her campaign's “closing argument.”

“It’s not about scoring political points for me,” said the vice president. “I want to make progress.”

While waiting for Harris to take the stage in Raleigh, Liz Kazal, 35, said she was “cautiously optimistic” about the election. She has tried to volunteer for the campaign every week, including making phone calls, knocking on doors with her young daughter and raising money for Harris' candidacy.

“You hope for the best and plan for the worst,” Kazal said.

Meanwhile, the White House rushed to explain that the president's comment about “garbage” was a reference to the rhetoric of Trump allies, not Trump's supporters themselves. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden “does not view Trump supporters or anyone who supports Trump as trash.”

The controversy started on Tuesday — at the same time Harris spoke near the White House — as Biden attended a campaign call by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino. Biden took the opportunity to criticize Sunday rally at Madison Square Gardenwhere a comedian described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

“The only trash I see out there is his supporters. “His demonization of Latinos is irresponsible and un-American,” Biden said. “It’s completely contradictory to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

Harris told reporters before boarding Air Force Two for her flight to Raleigh that she disagrees with “any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

“I will represent all Americans, even those who don’t vote for me,” she said.

Her words were an attempt to defuse the controversy over Biden's comments and put some distance between her and the president she fought with me in the past.

Republicans seized on Biden's comments, claiming they echoed when Hillary Clinton, as the Democratic nominee in 2016, said half of Trump's supporters were part of a “basket of deplorables.”

“We know what they believe. Because look how they treated you,” Trump said Wednesday at his rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. “They treated you like trash. The truth is that they have treated our entire country like garbage.”

He also said, “Without question, my supporters are far more quality than Crooked Joe's,” using his nickname for the president.

After landing in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for another rally later in the day, Trump posed for photos while wearing a neon orange and yellow vest and sitting in the passenger seat of a garbage truck decorated with American flags and campaign signs.

“How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said as he answered questions from reporters.

“Joe Biden should be ashamed if he even knows what he’s doing,” Trump said.

Travis Waters, 54, who attended Harris' second rally of the day in Harrisburg, shrugged off the furor over Biden's comments.

“Donald Trump has said so much about so many other groups, and I haven’t heard the media express the same outrage,” Waters said.

In attacking Biden — and by extension Harris — Republicans have glossed over Trump's own history of insulting and demonizing rhetoric, such as calling the United States a “dustbin for the world” or referring to political opponents as “the enemy within.” Trump also described Harris as a “stupid person” and “lazy as hell” and questioned whether she was on drugs.

Trump also rejected calls to apologize for the comment about Puerto Rico at his rally. He acknowledged that “someone said some bad things,” but added that he “can’t imagine that’s a big deal.”

Political attack lines have a history of occasionally causing backlash against people who use them. For example, Ohio Senator JD Vance, now Trump's vice president, said, once described Democrats as a commitment to “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are unhappy with their own lives and the choices they’ve made.”

Vance's three-year-old comments resurfaced when he was named the vice presidential running mate, energizing Harris supporters who used the label as a badge of pride on T-shirts and bumper stickers, similar to how Trump supporters once gleefully branded themselves “deplorables.”

On Wednesday morning, Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, downplayed Biden's comments in television interviews.

“Let me be clear: The vice president and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone to be a part of this,” he told ABC's “Good Morning America.” “Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric must end.”

In Harrisburg, Harris parried repeated interruptions from pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting her support of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

“We are about fighting for democracy and your right to be heard,” Harris said as a protester shouted. “That’s what’s at stake in this election.”

She added: “Look, everyone has the right to be heard, but right now I'm speaking.”

___ Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.; Adriana Gomez Licon in Rocky Mount, North Carolina; Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa; and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.