Biden’s ‘trash’ remarks provide new fodder for Trump and GOP

Updated October 30, 2024 at 8:21 AM ET

Shortly before Vice President Harris took the stage to deliver her campaign closing speech, she vowed to turn a new page on the nation’s division, a sentiment President Biden undermined with a statement on a video call with a Latino voting group.

Biden’s remarks sounded as if he were calling former President Donald Trump’s supporters “trash.” Republicans seized on those comments, saying Biden called half the country “garbage” and turned his gaffe into a rallying cry, similar to the “basket of deplorables” joke Hillary Clinton told at a 2016 fundraiser.

Biden and the White House immediately moved to clarify his comment. But it gave Republicans an opportunity to avoid that situation. An argument broke out Sunday with a derogatory and politically toxic joke about Puerto Rico that a comedian made on Trump’s behalf at Madison Square Garden.

The joke roiled the presidential campaign in its final days, as Puerto Ricans had a significant presence in places like Pennsylvania, which both the Trump and Harris campaigns viewed as a must-win state.

What Biden said

The problem is the placement of the apostrophe. In a video call with Voto Latino on Tuesday, Biden sounded like he was calling Trump supporters “trash.”

The White House quickly released a transcript to put Biden’s comment in broader context, insisting that Biden meant “supporters” to refer to the comedian’s remarks, not “supporters.”

Biden later attempted to correct his comments on x.com, saying he was referring to the comedian’s joke at the rally.

What does Biden’s gaffe mean for Harris?

Biden, who has a history of gaffes throughout his life, has kept a low profile since dropping out of the race and supporting Harris.

She drew attention last week when, at a rare campaign event, she said of Trump that “we should put him in jail” and then quickly added “politically.”

Conservatives have long complained that Democrats use derogatory labels to describe their supporters. They point to then-candidate Barack Obama’s remarks about “bitter” working-class voters “clinging to guns or religion” and former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton describing Trump’s supporters as “deplorables.”

Biden’s remarks came as Trump took the stage at a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took the stage to demand an apology from Biden.

“We are not trash; we are patriots who love America,” Rubio said.

The Trump campaign said this was an example of name-calling by the Harris campaign.

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