‘I will represent all Americans, including those who don’t vote for me,’ Harris said.
Vice President Kamala Harris sought to distance herself from President Joe Biden’s comment referring to Trump supporters as “garbage,” as the former president told supporters at a Trump rally that Harris and Biden “mean it.”
The White House released a transcript of Biden’s Oct. 29 remarks that was revised to make it appear that the president had referred to a single person instead of to Trump supporters at large. Later, on Oct. 30, at a Trump rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the former president rhetorically linked Biden’s comments to Harris.
“And now, speaking on a call for her campaign last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage,” Trump said. “And they mean it. … My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans. … And you can’t be president if you hate the American people.”
Harris distanced herself from the allegation when speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on the morning of Oct. 30.
“Listen, I think, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. 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,” Harris said.
The vice president also reiterated what she has said in previous campaign appearances: “I am sincere in what I mean: When elected president of the United States, I will represent all Americans, including those who don’t vote for me, and address their needs and their desires.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Oct. 30 sought to downplay Biden’s comments in an ABC News interview. When asked about the president’s comments, Walz told “Good Morning America” that “the president clarified his remarks.”
“Let’s be very clear,” Walz said in the interview. “The vice president and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone part of this.”
Biden made the comment at a campaign call in reference to a joke made by roast comedian Tony Hinchcliffe earlier in the week about Puerto Rico during a Trump campaign rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,’” Biden told the call, according to video footage of his remarks. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
Later on, Biden said that his remark was referring to the comedian’s supporters and not Trump’s supporters.
On social media, however, Trump’s campaign and Republicans highlighted Biden’s comment and called on the Harris campaign to denounce it. Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), wrote that “there’s no excuse” for Biden’s remarks and that he hopes “Americans reject it.”
The White House had sought to clarify Biden’s remark, with a spokesman writing on social media that the president was saying that “hateful rhetoric” at the Trump rally was “garbage.”
Biden wrote later that 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.
“[Hinchcliffe’s] 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.”
Harris delivered a speech at the Ellipse in Washington on the evening of Oct. 29, which Walz said featured “rhetoric that a president of the United States” can give. His ticket is also one that can understand that “we’re all in this together” and “one that welcomes robust debate about the issues,” he told “Good Morning America.”
Also in the interview, Walz said that his opponent’s campaign is producing “really difficult and hateful rhetoric.”
“We saw our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico have to endure this. We’ve seen it in Ohio with folks. That’s what’s going to end,” Walz said, referring to claims made about Haitian illegal immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio.
A Harris surrogate, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose state is a key battleground ahead of the 2024 election, told CNN on the evening of Oct. 29 that he denounces Biden’s comment.
“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 said when asked about Biden’s remark.
“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.”
Hinchcliffe responded to the criticism of his Madison Square Garden set by saying that “people have no sense of humor.”
“Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there,” he wrote on social medial platform X, referring to the criticism that Walz made about his comments.
On Oct. 27, as Hinchcliffe was rattling off jokes, he took a shot at Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth whose residents cannot vote for president.
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.