Harris addresses Biden's 'garbage' comments

Vice President Harris on Wednesday distanced herself from President Biden’s comments a day earlier in which he appeared to refer to former President Trump’s supporters as “garbage.”

"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,” Harris told reporters as she departed for a three-state campaign swing.

“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career. I believe that the work I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not,” Harris added. “And as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans whether you vote for me or not.”

Harris said she spoke with Biden on Tuesday night, but his comments did not come up.

Biden sparked backlash on Tuesday night when he appeared to compare Trump's supporters to garbage while commenting on a racist joke a comedian made at a Trump rally days earlier likening Puerto Rico to an “island of garbage.”

The White House in a statement argued that the president was being misinterpreted and had been referring to the rhetoric at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday as “garbage,” not the Republican’s supporters.

It also provided a fuller transcript of the comment, which included an apostrophe with “supporter’s,” to indicate Biden was referring to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s “demonization of Latinos” as “garbage.”

Hinchcliffe delivered a comedic set at Trump’s New York City rally, during which he mocked Latinos, Jews and Black men and made a joke calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

A video clip of Biden’s remarks also circulated and quickly went viral.

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden appears to say in the clip. “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’s comments handed the Trump campaign a lifeline at a time when the former president and his allies were under intense scrutiny for the rhetoric at his Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden, where speakers made numerous racist and sexist comments about Democrats.

Numerous Republicans compared the remarks to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s 2016 comments when she said some of the former president’s supporters were “deplorables.”

“This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country,” Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), the GOP nominee for vice president, posted on the social platform X. “There’s no excuse for this. I hope Americans reject it.”

Vance a day earlier had said at a campaign event that people should not be so easily offended when asked about Hinchcliffe's jokes.