Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted comments the day before it was revealed that President Joe Biden had called supporters of the former president “trash.”
It’s the latest twist in the heated race-driven rhetoric that has taken center stage less than a week before polling day.
Biden’s comments, which came at a Latino campaign rally in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, were in response to questions about Trump’s weekend rally. Madison Square Garden One of the opening speakers, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, called Puerto Rico a “floating garbage island.”
“Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think about our supporters,” Trump said at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Wednesday. “He called them ‘rubbish’ and they mean it, although surely my supporters are of better quality than Crooked Joe who lied to Kamal.”
“My answer to Joe and Kamal is simple: You cannot lead America if you do not love Americans. You just can’t,” he added.
On Tuesday, Biden called the Puerto Rican community “good, decent, honorable people,” adding, “The only garbage I see floating around there are his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is dishonest and un-American. It’s completely against everything we do.”
The White House quickly insisted that Biden was not calling Trump’s supporters “trash.” They released a transcript that added an apostrophe to the word “supporters”: “The only garbage I see floating around is that his supporter — his — demonization of Latinos is dishonest and un-American.”
Biden too X posted an explanationhe said he was referring to “the hateful rhetoric a Trump supporter spouted about Puerto Rico at a Madison Square Garden rally—that’s the only word I can think of to describe it.
“His demonization of Latinos is dishonest,” Biden said. “That’s what I wanted to say. The comments at that rally do not reflect who we are as a nation.”
Biden’s comments were a welcome distraction for Trump, who has faced heavy criticism for the Garden incident, which was filled with a series of crude and racist comments.
Speakers called Harris “pimps” and him “the devil.” Trump’s campaign distanced itself from Hinchcliffe’s comments, but otherwise said the New York event was a successful part of its final message in the final week before Election Day.
During a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Trump said the Madison Square Garden event was “absolutely a love fest” and tried to deflect backlash over Hinchcliffe’s comments.
The joke about Puerto Rico had political consequences for Trump.
Puerto Rican trap and reggaeton singer Nicky Jam took to Instagram on Tuesday to say he doesn’t support Trump after the Hinchcliffe joke. He said he initially supported the former president because he “thought he would be the best for the economy.”
Still, Biden’s comment gives Trump an easy way to flip the script, just as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said in 2016 that “half” of Trump’s supporters belong to one group. “basket of pity” A phrase that Trump’s supporters eventually adopted and used to disassociate Clinton.
A Trump campaign official said Biden plans to use it aggressively to hit Democrats.
“We will put out the sun with them,” said the official.
Biden’s comments also threatened to black out Harris’ rally Tuesday night, where he offered his closing argument. The massive event was held at the Ellipse, where Trump spoke on January 6, 2021, before his supporters rioted at the US Capitol.
It was Harris on Wednesday has to go away From Biden’s comments.
“Frankly, I don’t agree at all with any criticism of who people vote for,” he said.
Catherine Doyle contributed.