Former President Trump is fundraising off of a remark by President Biden in which he appeared to call Trump supporters garbage.
“Moments ago, Kamala’s boss crooked Joe Biden just called ALL my supporters GARBAGE - HE WAS TALKING TO YOU!†Trump said in a fundraising email sent Tuesday to The Hill’s sister network NewsNation.
Biden was responding to comments from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage†at a Trump rally in New York City over the weekend.
In a video call Tuesday, the president said, "I don't— I— I don't know the Puerto Rican that— 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 out there is his supporter’s— 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,†Biden said, according to the transcript provided by the White House, on a call with Voto Latino, a major advocacy group targeting Latino voters.
The comments by the president spread quickly. Trump allies connected the comments to former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton talking about some of the Republican's backers as “deplorables†in 2016.
“FIRST Hillary called you a DEPLORABLE! THEN they called you a FASCIST! And moments ago Kamala’s boss Biden called you GARBAGE!†the Trump fundraising email reads.
The White House has said the president was talking about the rhetoric at Trump’s New York rally as “garbage,†not Trump's supporters.
“The President referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage,’†deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a previous statement.
The White House directed The Hill to a Tuesday night social media post from Biden that said: "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. His 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."
The Hill has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
The backlash over Biden’s comments comes with only a few days remaining before Election Day. The race between Harris and Trump is tight, with the vice president only leading the former president by 0.6 percentage points in an average of national polls maintained by The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.
Updated at 10:25 a.m.
