The Trump-Vance campaign demanded Tuesday evening that Vice President Kamala Harris “disavow” President Joe Biden’s comment that Trump supporters were “garbage.”
The comment triggered an explosive reaction in the media just as Harris was delivering her “closing argument” in Washington, DC, stepping on her final message.
The Associated Press reported: “Reacting to a comic calling Puerto Rico garbage at a Trump rally last weekend, Biden said, ‘The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.'”
NBC reporter Gabe Gutierrez, gave a fuller version of the quote: “Donald Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community…just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage?…The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
Politico tried to claim that Biden was just referring to “Trump supporters who said such things about American citizens.” The White House provided a different spin, saying Biden was using an apostrophe — “supporter’s” — to refer simply to the comedian who had told the offensive joke. Even CNN had trouble accepting that version of events.
The Trump campaign responded with a statement attributed to campaign secretary Karoline Leavitt:
President Trump is backed by Latinos, Black voters, union workers, angel moms, law enforcement officers, border patrol agents, and Americans of all faiths — and Harris, Walz, and Biden have labeled these great Americans as fascists, Nazis, and now, garbage. 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. Kamala does not deserve four more years. President Trump will be a president for ALL Americans.
The campaign also challenged Vice President Harris to “disavow” Biden’s remarks, including a list of critical comments:
Kamala Harris’ governing partner just insulted tens of millions of Americans. Will Kamala apologize and disavow Joe Biden’s remarks?
Biden said: “The only garbage I see floating out there is [Trump] supporters.”
Senator J.D. Vance said: “This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country. There’s no excuse for this. I hope Americans reject it.”
Sen. Marco Rubio said in Allentown, PA: “He’s talking about the Border Patrol. He’s talking about nurses. He’s talking about teachers. He’s talking about everyday Americans who love their country and want to dream big again…and I hope their campaign is about to apologize for what Joe Biden just said. We are not garbage. We are patriots who love America.”
Donald Trump Jr. said: “Team Kamala thinks all Trump supporters are ‘garbage.’ Alexis Nungaray lost her daughter at the hands of an illegal alien that Kamala Harris allowed into our country. She isn’t garbage, she’s an amazing American whose daughter would be alive today if it wasn’t for Kamala Harris.”
Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded: “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hate America and don’t deserve four more years. Kamala must answer for this disgraceful attack on tens of millions of Americans.”
Harris aides were reportedly leaking to Axios that Biden was “both unpopular and undisciplined,” but she herself had not yet responded as of 10:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday evening.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
