Kamala Harris took the stage Tuesday evening at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., delivering a crucial campaign speech intended to sway voters as Election Day nears. However, President Joe Biden’s unexpected and divisive comments derailed her moment. Despite the fact that it was “her night,” Biden’s poorly-timed remarks diverted the spotlight from Harris and torpedoed the momentum she sought to build, also drawing new scrutiny to the recent controversy over comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico.
Biden’s unforced error echoes the “deplorables” comment made by Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama’s infamous “guns or religion” statement in 2008. Just days before Election Day, Biden’s words could severely harm Democrats’ chances.
‘Garbage’ Comment Sparks Outrage
On a call with Voto Latino before his bedtime Tuesday, Biden continued his line of attacks on Trump, even as the top Harris super PAC recently admitted it wasn’t working. The President tried to maintain the narrative against Trump, but his comments took a wrong turn.
“You know, he says immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood’ of our country. Give me a break. He wants to do away with the birthright citizenship. Who the hell else said that in the last 100 years?” Biden said.
Biden also seized on a joke made by Hinchcliffe at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York, aiming to use it as proof of Trump’s alleged divisiveness.
“And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage.’ Well, let me tell you something,” Biden continued. “In my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Trump and Supporters Hit Back
Trump quickly learned about Biden’s “garbage” smear while speaking at an event in Pennsylvania. To a diverse crowd, Trump pointed out that Biden’s words were reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s “deplorable” comment.
“Remember Hillary? She said ‘deplorable,’ and then she said ‘irredeemable.’ That didn’t work out. ‘Garbage,’ I think, is worse, right. But he doesn’t know. You have to please forgive him. Please forgive him for he not knoweth what he said,” Trump quipped.
Later, Trump took to Truth Social to respond:
“While I am running a campaign of positive solutions to save America, Kamala Harris is running a campaign of hate. She has spent all week comparing her political opponents to the most evil mass murderers in history. Now, on top of everything, Joe Biden calls our supporters ‘garbage.’ You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American People. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have shown they are both unfit to be President of the United States.”
During Trump’s rally, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also weighed in, saying, “[Biden] is talking about the Border Patrol. He is 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 [Donald Trump].”
“We are not garbage. We are patriots who love America,” Rubio added.
In response to Biden’s comments, the Trump campaign started sharing images of various Americans supporting Trump, captioned, “This is who Kamala and Joe Biden call ‘garbage.’ President Trump calls them Patriots.”
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, responded with a statement:
“President Trump is backed by Latinos, Black voters, union workers, angel moms, law enforcement officers, border patrol agents, and Americans of all faiths — and 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.”
Divided Opinions and Damage Control
While some of Biden’s supporters were willing to excuse his remarks as a result of his age, others were far less forgiving. Former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup investment banker John LeFevre didn’t mince words when sharing his perspective.
“These are not the words of a comedian or a rambling old man. This is what they believe. The people who don’t frame their college degrees are garbage. The people who get their hands dirty at work are garbage. The people who only wear suits to go to church are garbage. The people who don’t read the New York Times are garbage. The people who open car doors for women and think boys and girls are different are garbage. The people who proudly honor their ancestors, who created western civilization, are garbage.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy echoed the sentiments of many, calling Biden’s remarks an “October surprise.” The backlash online was immediate, with hashtags like “Thanks Joe” quickly trending.
Biden’s comments eclipsed any chance Harris had of gaining attention for her speech in the nation’s capital.
Former CNN correspondent Chris Cillizza added, “Biden’s verbal gaffe (if that’s what it was) is an absolute nightmare for Harris campaign. This is getting more attention than Harris’ closing argument speech.”
The Attempted Cover-Up
After facing significant backlash, Biden attempted to reframe his words, tweeting, “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
The White House even altered the official transcript of Biden’s Voto Latino call, adding punctuation that seemingly tried to clarify his meaning. However, NPR cautiously reported Biden “appeared to say” Trump supporters were garbage, while Politico falsely framed Biden’s words as condemning hatred rather than people. After widespread backlash, including criticism from Sen. JD Vance, Politico updated their article, though they continued to use misleading punctuation.
“The fact that these ‘journalists’ are covering for a catastrophic error from Kamala’s campaign is a scandal,” Vance said.
Meanwhile, some prominent Democrats were quick to distance themselves from Biden’s words. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, for example, told CNN, “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.”
