Biden rushes to clarify the “garbage” comment that Trump says was aimed at his supporters

Oct 30 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden's alleged attempt to denounce racist remarks made by a speaker at a campaign rally for Donald Trump backfired as Trump and other Republicans accused him of calling their supporters “trash.”

Just days before the tough contest between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Trump to determine who will take control of the world's leading economy, Biden and his White House moved quickly to contain further fallout from the faux pas.

The saga began when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” at a rally at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday, one of a series of vulgar and racist statements made by Trump allies at the event.

During a fundraising call on Tuesday, Biden said: “The only garbage I see floating out there is that of his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American,” according to a transcript posted by a White House on X has speaker.

Several news organizations cited the same quote, but without the apostrophe, as they criticized Biden for appearing to direct his nonsensical comment more broadly at Trump supporters.

Biden also tried to clarify the matter on X.

“Today I called the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico that Trump's supporters spread at his rally at Madison Square Garden trash – that's the only word I can think of to describe it,” he wrote.

“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.”

But Republicans seized on the comment and compared it to a 2016 remark by Hillary Clinton in which she called Trump supporters “deplorable people.” Clinton later lost to Trump in a major election surprise.

Trump, who trails Harris by just a single percentage point (43% to 44%) according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll ahead of the Nov. 5 election, also weighed in on Biden's remark.

“To make matters worse, Joe Biden calls our supporters 'trash.' “You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American people,” Trump posted on X.

His vice president, JD Vance, said: “This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half the country.”

Vance had previously defended Hinchcliffe's comments, saying: “We have to stop being so angry about every little thing in the United States of America.”

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