Biden sets off firestorm with response to Trump rally comedian’s comments from Puerto Rico

On By Littum

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden ignited Republican fury Tuesday night when he weighed in on racist jokes at Donald Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

At the event, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.” He also made crude, offensive and racist comments about Latinos and black people.

On Tuesday, during a video call to Latino voter outreach, Biden defended the Puerto Rican community and appeared to criticize either Trump supporters or Hinchcliffe.

“They are good, decent, honorable people,” Biden said, referring to the Puerto Rican community. “The only trash I see floating out there are his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done.”

The White House quickly shifted into damage control mode, with spokesman Andrew Bates saying in a statement that Biden “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as trash.”

The White House also circulated a transcript in an attempt to show that Biden did not say that Trump supporters were “garbage,” but that he stumbled over his lines and meant to say that he was specifically condemning Hinchcliffe’s remarks.

“And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,'” the White House transcript read. “Well, let me tell you something. I don’t know—I—I don’t know the Puerto Rico—that I know—or a Puerto Rico where I’m from——in my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people . The only garbage I see floating around is his followers’ — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s totally against everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

Shortly after Biden too posted a clarification on X.

“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters 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 wanted to say. The comments on that meeting do not reflect who we are as a nation,” he wrote.

Still, the controversy diverted attention away from what was supposed to be a big night for Vice President Kamala Harris, who was about to deliver her big “closing argument” speech at the Ellipse in Washington – the site from which Trump delivered his speech before his supporters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

“It is time to turn the page on the drama and the conflict, the fear and the division. It is time for a new generation of leadership in America,” Harris said Tuesday night. “And I’m ready to offer that leadership.”

Instead, attention turned to Biden, with Republicans using his remarks to undermine the message of unity that Harris addressed in his speech.

Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita responded to Biden’s remark on Xwrites that Harris “hate you and they hate the American spirit, vote accordingly.”

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, said on X: “This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half the country. There is no excuse for this. I hope the Americans reject it.”

A senior Trump campaign official said that when the campaign became aware of the comment, it moved quickly to get it in front of Trump, who was in the middle of his rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Late. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was already scheduled to take the stage, so a campaign staffer handed him a note with the contents of Biden’s remarks. Rubio then read it to Trump.

“It’s terrible. That’s what it says,” Trump said.

Trump then brought up Hillary Clinton’s comments during the 2016 presidential campaign when she said that “half” of Trump’s supporters fit into a “basket of deplorables” — comments widely believed to have hurt her in the election.

“Garbage, I think, is worse, right?” Trump said. “But he doesn’t know. Please forgive him. Forgive him, because he doesn’t know what he said.”

It was Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro presented with Biden’s comments Tuesday night on CNN. He said it was the first time he heard them.

“I would never offend the good people of Pennsylvania or any American, even if they chose to support a candidate I did not support,” he said in response.

“Those are certainly not words I would choose,” he added. “I think it’s important that we stay focused on the contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and not attack supporters of either candidate.”

In an interview with Fox News this month, host Bret Baier asked Harris if she thought Trump supporters were “stupid.”

“Oh, God. I would never say that about the American people,” she replied. “And actually, if you listen to Donald Trump, if you watch any of his rallies, he’s the one who tends to belittle and belittle and diminish the American people. He’s the one talking about an enemy within, an enemy within, talking about the American people and suggesting that he would turn the American military against the American people.”

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Biden’s remarks Tuesday night.

Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis said, “The final days of this race are shaping up to be a sprint to the bottom of the rhetorical barrel. You want to know why this race is close? It’s like both campaigns let alone their surrogates are trying to find new and innovative ways to lose weight.” Cue headslap.”