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Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro distanced himself from President Biden’s controversial comments calling Trump supporters “garbage” during a CNN interview on Wednesday.
“I had not heard that until now, Kaitlan, so I’m kind of giving you my fresh reaction to it,” Shapiro reacted to CNN host Kaitlan Collins playing the clip of Biden’s comments on Tuesday night.
“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,” Shapiro added.
When asked whether Biden should clarify his comment, Shapiro hedged and instead replied, “Well, I think President Biden will decide what he wants to say. It’s certainly not words that I would choose, and I think it’s important that we remain focused on the contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and not attacking supporters of either candidate.”
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Biden did attempt to clarify his comments on social media.
“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,” Biden wrote on X. “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.”
Biden’s comments were made during a virtual campaign call for Harris with Voto Latino. He criticized former President Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, which drew attention after insult comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made jokes mocking various ethnic groups, including one that referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said on the call. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it is un-American.”
Hinchcliffe was not demonizing Latinos, and in fact, several Hispanic Americans including those from Puerto Rico took to social media to say they were not offended by the joke and reveal that the island, in fact, has had a major problem with trash for years — hence, the origin of Hinchcliffe’s joke.
The comedian at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden shone a spotlight on the crisis of corruption in Puerto Rico.
The comedian brought light to Puerto Rico’s garbage problem‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/XmpRy9UBSN
— Destiny (@Destiny15_FL) October 29, 2024
Trump’s allies quickly piled on criticism of Biden’s insults.
“Just moments ago, Joe Biden stated that our supporters are garbage. I hope their campaign is about to apologize. We are not garbage, we are patriots who love America,” Rubio said while on stage with Trump at a Wednesday rally.
Trump’s vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, slammed Biden, calling his comment “disgusting.”
“This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss, Joe Biden, are attacking half of the country. There’s no excuse for this. I hope American reject it,” Vance said.
Donald Trump Jr. took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and stated: “The media spent all week crying about a joke from a comedian. Meanwhile, Tim Walz called Trump supporters Nazis. Kamala Harris refused to condemn it. And now Kamala’s biggest Democrat ally, Joe Biden, is calling all Trump supporters ‘garbage.’ Absolutely disgusting!!!”
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung also condemned Biden’s remarks on X, writing that Vice President Kamala Harris and the president “HATE Americans and will do everything to crush us if they ever hold power again.”
