Harris responds to Biden’s “garbage” comment

Vice President Kamala Harris says she “strongly” disagrees with “any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” after President Biden on Tuesday made remarks in which he appeared to call Trump supporters “garbage” on a video call with Latino activists. Republicans seized on the comment, while the White House offered a different explanation of what Mr. Biden had said, and the president tweeted a clarification of his comment.

“Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris told reporters Wednesday morning, when she was asked about Mr. Biden’s “garbage” comment. “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. And as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.”

News of the president’s remark spread rapidly shortly after Harris delivered her closing argument before a massive crowd near the White House Tuesday night, in which she called for unity and vowed to work with independents and Republicans, as well as Democrats, to help improve Americans’ lives. 

In a video call with Latino activists Tuesday evening, the president was responding to a joke made at a Trump rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, in which Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” 

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” he seemed to say, according to video of the call. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable.”

But the White House denied that the president had said this about Trump supporters and released a transcript with a statement saying that “supporters” was in fact “supporter’s,” and Mr. Biden was referring to Hinchcliffe and his joke. Mr. Biden clarified his remarks later Tuesday evening.

“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,” the president said in a statement. “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 backlash against the president’s comments was immediate, particularly among Republicans and conservatives. But Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a key Harris surrogate, also distanced himself from the president’s comments. 

“I had not heard that until now, Kaitlan, so I’m kind of giving you my fresh reaction to it,” Shapiro told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in response to the clip of the president’s comments. “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.” 

An opponent’s remarks about a presidential candidate’s supporters can have lingering effects. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 said half of Trump’s supporters fell into the category of a “basket of deplorables,” sparking outrage during the election she ultimately lost to Trump. 

“To just be grossly generalist, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call ‘the basket of deplorables,'” Clinton told donors at a Manhattan restaurant in September 2016. “Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up.” In the weeks afterward, Clinton did not fully walk back her comments, but she did concede that “half” may have been too high. 

In 2012, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney also made a fateful gaffe in 2012, when he said “47%” of people would vote for Obama “no matter what,” since they’re “dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims.” Romney later remarked that he said something “completely wrong.” 

Trump, Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are all campaigning in North Carolina Wednesday, as early voting continues in may states. By Wednesday morning, more than 55 million Americans had voted early.

Ed O’Keefe, Weijia Jiang, Jacob Rosen, Olivia Rinaldi, Fin Gómez and Arden Farhi contributed to this report.

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• Hillary Clinton
• Joe Biden
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• Mitt Romney