US President Joe Biden has been forced to issue a clarification after appearing to refer to supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as “garbage”.

In a live broadcast Tuesday with the advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden sought to denounce rhetoric at a recent Trump rally at Madison Square Garden that was criticized as racist and misogynistic.

“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage,” Biden said on the live stream, before going on to call Puerto Ricans “good, decent, honorable people.”

Then he added, “The only trash I see floating around out there is his supporter’s — his hate — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.”

The episode was immediately seized upon by Republican leaders, including Trump, who interpreted the statement as an insult to the average conservative voter.

Some have drawn parallels to Democrat Hillary Clinton, who called Trump supporters “deplorables” during her 2016 presidential bid.

But Biden and his team have since issued statements trying to clarify that his remarks applied only to Madison Square Garden speaker, Trump supporter and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.

Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by the Trump supporter 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 unthinkable. That’s all I wanted to say. The…

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 30, 2024

The White House responds

White House spokesman Andrew Bates quickly dismissed the idea that Biden was referring to Trump supporters.

The Democratic president, Bates said, “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as trash” — not the voters.

In a transcript released by the White House, the word “supporter” was a singular possessive, apparently referring to Hinchcliffe, as opposed to the plural noun “supporters”.

Soon after, Biden also posted on social media platform X to address the issue.

“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by the Trump supporter at his rally in Madison Square Garden as trash — which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” he wrote.

“His demonization of Latinos is unacceptable. That’s all I wanted to say. The comments at that rally do not reflect who we are as a nation.”

For many Democrats, the scrutiny over Biden’s remarks was yet another reflection of his tendency to slur his words or mix up information.

The 81-year-old’s apparent frailty, on display during his June debate with Trump, was the factor that ultimately led him to abandon his re-election bid. Even within his own party, critics questioned his continued ability to lead.

After Biden left the race in July, Vice President Kamala Harris immediately stepped into his place, generating a wave of excitement.

She continued to defend Biden during his campaign, even telling The View that “there’s nothing that comes to mind” that she would do any differently than him.

However, political observers noted that Biden was only involved in a handful of events organized by the Harris campaign. And Harris herself has frequently described herself as a “new generation of leadership.”

Biden’s remarks came the same evening as Harris gave a keynote speech in Washington, DC, where she sought to draw a distinction between her campaign and Trump’s divisiveness.

“It’s disgusting”

Republicans, meanwhile, used Biden’s comments as a line of attack against Democrats in the crucial final week of the campaign.

With the election just seven days away, Republicans sought to distance Trump from Hinchcliffe’s remarks. Trump himself defended the rally as a “love fest.”

“President Trump is supported 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 fascists , Nazis and now. , garbage,” the Trump campaign said in a statement,

“There’s no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris not only hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him.”

Trump running mate JD Vance also criticized Biden’s comments. “It’s disgusting,” he said. “Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half the country. There is no excuse for that. I hope the Americans reject it.”

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a Trump campaign surrogate, drew on his Cuban-American heritage in his response.

“I hope their campaign is about to apologize for what Joe Biden just said. We are not garbage. We are patriots who love America,” he said at a rally in the Latino stronghold of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Some Democrats also distanced themselves from Biden’s words.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told CNN that he would “never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any American, even if he chooses to support a candidate that I don’t support.”

In 2016, Clinton referred to Trump supporters as “a basket of deplorables.”

She later claimed she was generalizing, but among Trump supporters, her words were seen as an attack on working-class people.