Joe Biden Transcript of ‘Garbage’ Remarks Raises Eyebrows

Republicans have rejected Joe Biden and the White House’s denials that the president called Donald Trump’s supporters “garbage.”

Biden said he was referring to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke attacking Puerto Rico at a Trump rally in New York when he made the remarks on a Zoom call with the Voto Latino advocacy group.

The White House also released a printout of the Zoom call to support the claim that Biden referred to Hinchcliffe’s remarks as “garbage” and not Trump supporters. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters’ — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American,” the transcript reads. Newsweek has reached out to the White House and Trump’s campaign team for comment via email.

The backlash from the comments is reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 description of Trump supporters as “a basket of deplorables” who were blamed for hurting the Democratic candidate’s campaign. Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage” so close to the election is said to be hurting Trump’s electoral hopes in key swing states like Pennsylvania.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Newsweek that the president was referring to “the hateful rhetoric coming out of the Madison Square Garden rally” and not supporters of Trump.

A number of Republican figures accuse the White House transcript of misrepresenting what Biden said. Trump supporters said a video of the Voto Latino call shows the president was indeed referring to them in the majority.

Greg Price, the director of communications at the State Freedom Caucus Network, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “The official White House transcript just lies about what Joe Biden said. Even though it’s clearly on video.”

Kylie Jane Kremer, executive director of Women for America First, which helped organize the January 6 protests in Washington DC in 2021, wrote: “The official transcript from the White House needs to be corrected immediately.

“Note the use of the apostrophe in the transcript. Joe Biden’s words were clear that he said Trump’s supporters were trash. Not Biden was discussing Trump’s supporters’ trash floating around,” Kremer added.

David Giglio, who ran unsuccessfully for California’s 20th congressional district, wrote: “The regime is now lying to the American people and changing official White House transcripts despite video evidence.”

Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist, added: “The problem with the transcript slightly beyond people who have ears is that the incomprehensible interpolation of several different thoughts is not a very good defense.”

Jonathan Lemire, host of MSNBC’s morning news show Way too soonsaid the transcript of Biden’s remarks suggests the president’s comments were “taken out of context.”

In a statement, Biden said: “Earlier today, I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump supporters at his rally in Madison Square Garden as trash — which is the only word I can think of to describe it .His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable.

“That’s all I meant to say. The comments about that meeting do not reflect who we are as a nation,” the president said.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national press secretary, added: “President Trump is backed by Latinos, black voters, union workers, angel mothers, 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 trash.

“There’s no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of thousands of Americans who support him,” Leavitt said.

White House transcript of Biden’s comments

“And just the other day, a speaker at his (Trump’s) rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage.’ Well, let me tell you something, I don’t know — I — I don’t know that Puerto Rico — I do – or a Puerto Rico where I’m from – in my home state of Delaware, they are good, decent, honorable people.

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters’ — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.

“Now Trump has tried to divide the country based on race, ethnicity, anything that does harm, to take their eye off the ball about what horrible things he has done and will do. But Kamala Harris has fought for all Americans and will be president of all America.”