“Anxious” Democrats are attempting to distance themselves and Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign from President Joe Biden’s controversial comment referring to supporters of former President Donald Trump as “garbage,” Axios reported.
After Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there are his supporters” during a virtual interview with Voto Latino that was meant to help Harris, the White House edited his words to spin the remark to refer to Trump’s “supporter’s” rhetoric:
“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,” Biden said in a follow-up post on X, referring to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about the island of Puerto Rico being “garbage” at Trump’s recent Madison Square Garden rally.
“That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation,” Biden wrote:
After the wave of backlash from Republicans, some elected Democrats have admitted to Axios that Biden’s comments were bad for Harris’s campaign.
“Someone needs to park Biden out of sight till after the election,” one swing-district House Democrat told the outlet on the condition of anonymity.
A senior House Democrat remarked that the president’s “garbage” comment towards Trump supporters shows why it is “definitely smart to keep [Harris] out front and not Joe,” and that they are “less concerned after Kamala quickly disassociated” from it on Wednesday.
When asked about Biden’s comment on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Harris told reporters that she “strongly” disagrees with criticizing people for who they vote for.
“Listen, I think, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career. I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people whether they support me or not,” the vice president said, before reiterating past comments that she will “represent all Americans” if elected.
WATCH — Frank Luntz: Biden’s Garbage Gaffe May Be “Turning Point” Leading to Trump Victory:
Yet another senior House Democrat told Axios that Biden’s latest gaffe is “very strongly” illustrative of why the aging president was pushed to end his campaign for reelection and has taken a backseat on the campaign trail.
“I think you’re not going to see him out there a lot,” the representative added.
Former Washington Post and current Semafor reporter David Weigel expressed his disbelief at Biden making such a controversial comment in a “low-pressure” Zoom interview:
“Can’t get over Biden making this gaffe in a low-pressure Zoom call for Voto Latino. It’s like bowling with bumpers, but somehow throwing a gutter ball that also sets the room on fire,” he wrote on X.
Poll aggregator Nate Silver also said that Biden is “one of Kamala Harris’ biggest impediments to victory” after his “garbage” comment, telling the Daily Mail that Biden will be largely responsible if Harris loses to Trump.
While claiming that Harris has done a “pretty good job” with her campaign so far, that FiveThirtyEight founder said that “Biden doing everything possible to fuck it up.”