US President, Joe Biden faced massive backlash for referring to Republican Donald Trump’s supporters as “garbage” during an election campaign call.
Speaking during a video call organised by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino on, Biden addressed the controversy that erupted after one of Trump’s warm-up speakers at a New York rally on Sunday referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” said Biden.
“His, his, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American.”
The White House In a statement said Joe Biden was referring to Trump’s rhetoric, not to his supporters.
“The President referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage,’” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.
Trump responded to Biden’s comments during his rally in Pennsylvania, where he was informed about the controversy. “Wow. That’s terrible.
That’s what it says,” Trump remarked, drawing a parallel to Clinton’s earlier comments by stating, “But she said deplorable, that didn’t work out.
“Garbage, I think is worse, right?”
Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, also condemned his remarks on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and calls it “disgusting”.
He further added that, “Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country.” “There’s no excuse for this. I hope Americans reject it,” he added.
At a Trump event in New York on Sunday, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe joked about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage” and made other racist statements about African Americans’ and Hispanic immigrants’ sexual life.
Residents of Puerto Rico, an American island territory in the Caribbean, are unable to vote in US elections; however, the diaspora in the United States, which numbers almost six million people, is entitled to vote, according to Pew Research Center.
On Tuesday, Trump continued his campaign’s push to distance the former president from the comedian’s comments.
“I don’t know if it’s a big deal or not, but I don’t want anybody making nasty jokes or stupid jokes,” he told broadcaster Fox News.
“Probably, he shouldn’t have been there.”
Written by Jennifer Amarachi
