Biden said, “Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Well, let me tell you something, I don’t, I don’t know the Puerto Rican that I know, the Puerto Rico where I’m fr — in my home state of Delaware. They’re good, decent honorable people.”
He continued, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates clarified that Biden was referring to the hateful rhetoric at the rally as “garbage.” Biden later used social media to clarify his statement, saying, “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.”
This remark contrasted with the message from Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, who promised to be a unifying president. “I pledge to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said.
There’s no way to spin it, says Team Trump
Trump’s campaign quickly criticized Biden’s comments. Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania, “These people. Terrible, terrible — terrible to say a thing like that,” drawing a comparison to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 “deplorables” comment. Trump added, “Garbage, I think is worse, right?” and Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance called Biden’s words “disgusting.”In New York, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe had made the controversial Puerto Rico remark and other offensive comments. Although residents of Puerto Rico cannot vote in US elections, the diaspora of nearly six million people can.Trump distanced himself from the comedian’s comments, stating that he didn’t approve of “nasty jokes or stupid jokes” in an interview with Fox News and suggesting, “Probably, he shouldn’t have been there.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, “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.”
Even some Democrats distanced themselves from Biden’s comments. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, speaking on CNN, noted, “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.”
With agency inputs