President Joe Biden appeared to refer to former President Donald Trump’s supporters as “garbage” Tuesday in a Zoom call with the organization Voto Latino following comments made at a Trump rally by a comedian.
The comments from the president were in response to those made by comic Tony Hinchcliffe on Sunday while speaking at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden, where the comedian referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” Biden attempted to clarify the comments in an X post Tuesday night after receiving backlash, claiming he was referring to the “rhetoric” put out by the comic and not Trump supporters.
“Donald Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community. He’s failed a businessman. He only cares about the billionaire friends he had and accumulated wealth for those at the top,” Biden said in the video. “Puerto Rico, where I’m in my home state of Delaware. They’re good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization is seen as unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Here’s the video: pic.twitter.com/7hNp3su8k2
— Gabe Gutierrez (@gabegutierrez) October 30, 2024
Biden addressed the backlash by condemning the rhetoric against Puerto Rico at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally as hateful. He clarified that he believed the alleged divisive language toward Latinos contradicts American values.
“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,” Biden wrote on X.
In a statement reported by journalist Gabe Gutierrez, the White House further emphasized that Biden was referring to the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who backs Trump and made disparaging remarks about Puerto Rico.
“There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you 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,” Hinchcliffe said at the rally.
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