President Joe Biden late Tuesday evening sent out a social media post attempting to spin comments he made calling former President Donald Trump’s supporters “garbage” as just being about the comedian Trump’s campaign had on stage at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
“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 president said.
President Joe Biden overshadowed Vice President Kamala Harris’s closing argument just one week before the election by trashing American voters and calling Trump supporters “garbage.” She delivered her closing argument in front of the White House on Tuesday night, but soon-to-be former President Joe Biden said the following in an interview just before her speech: “Donald Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community … just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage? … The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The president was referring to statements made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe during former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in which he referred to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, home to American citizens, as a “floating island of garbage.”
The president and the White House spin of his comments on Tuesday have not resonated, with even Democrats and CNN saying his statement was directed at Trump voters.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said that he disagrees with the president’s statement and that he does not hold his view.
“I’m giving you my fresh reaction to it. 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,” said Shapiro.