US President Joe Biden, who faced criticism for calling supporters of former President Donald Trump “trash”, tried to clarify his comments.
“The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said in response to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke in which he referred to Puerto Rico, a US territory, as a “garbage island.”
Biden’s offensive comments sparked a strong reaction from Republican Party supporters.
“Earlier today, I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico given by Trump supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage, which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” President Biden said.
“His demonization of Latinos is unbelievable. That’s all I meant to say. He further wrote that the comments at this rally do not reflect our identity as a nation.
The White House also released a text clarifying that Biden’s comments were directed at Hinchcliffe’s words and not all of Trump’s followers.
“The only garbage I see floating around is (Trump’s) supporters’ demonization of Latinos, which is unconscionable and un-American,” the official transcript read.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates explained that the president was only referring to “the hate speech coming out of the Madison Square Garden rally.” Newsweek.
However, Republicans are comparing Biden’s comments to Hillary Clinton’s controversial comments when she said that half of Trump’s supporters belonged to a “basket of deplorables” in 2016.
In response to Biden’s disrespectful comments toward his supporters, Trump made a statement on X.
“Kamala Harris is running a hate campaign. She spent the entire week comparing her political opponents to the most evil mass killers in history. Now, to top it all off, Joe Biden is calling our supporters “trash.” “You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American people,” Trump said.