Harris distanced himself from Biden’s “garbage” comment as Democrats are privately annoyed with the president

Washington
CNN
—

Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday distanced herself from President Joe Biden’s comments that apparently referred to Donald Trump’s supporters as “garbage,” sparking a political firestorm a week before Election Day.

Harris told reporters that she “very much” disagrees with criticizing people based on who they vote for. Asked if she has spoken to the president about his comments, Harris said Biden called her Tuesday night, but the president’s comments “didn’t come through.”

“Listen, I think 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. You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career. I believe the work I do is about representing all people, whether they support me or not,” Harris said on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.

The vice president also reiterated what she has said on the trail, including that she will “represent all Americans” if elected.

“I am sincere in what I believe: When elected president of the United States, I will represent all Americans, including those who do not vote for me, and address their needs and their wants,” Harris said.

The president inadvertently injected himself into the campaign’s home turf Tuesday night when he tried to criticize Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend. Biden mentioned Puerto Rico, which was referred to as a “floating island of garbage” by a comedian at Trump’s event Sunday night.

“And the other day a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico ‘a floating island of garbage.’ Well, let me tell you something … I don’t know the Puerto Rico that I know … or the Puerto Rico where I am – in my home state of Delaware – they are good, decent, honorable people,” Biden said during virtual remarks in a Voto Latino get-out-the-vote calls to help Harris.

“The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said, pausing before continuing. “His, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American.”

Biden had tried to explain away his comments Tuesday night.

“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump supporters at his rally in Madison Square Garden as trash — which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden wrote on X later that evening. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I wanted to say. The comments about that meeting do not reflect who we are as a nation.”

When CNN asked for an explanation of the president’s comments, a White House spokesman insisted that Biden had meant “supporters'” rather than “supporters,” arguing that he had actually said this: “The only garbage I see floating out there, his followers’ — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American.”

“The president referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as trash,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.

Harris’ campaign was quick to try to publicly defend or explain those remarks publicly. But privately, both on and around the campaign trail, plenty of Democrats quietly hummed with frustration and concern over the president’s remarks.

Senior campaign officials fielded messages of irritation from supporters — some of whom suggested the president might have to find a way to disappear from public view entirely in the last six days leading up to Election Day, sources said.

“The Biden gaffe yesterday is just so annoying,” said one former administration official. “Nobody wants him out there.”

Biden’s remarks have undeniably become an unwelcome distraction. Trump and his allies quickly seized on them to accuse Harris and her campaign, by extension, of looking down on Americans who support the former president.

The Democrats strongly point out that Biden is not a presidential candidate, and Harris has been quite clear that she has respect for all voters – regardless of whether they support her. They have also lashed out at what they see as a double standard, given Trump’s long history of racist, misogynistic and offensive remarks.

“We’re not going to lose a single voter because of that,” a campaign adviser said, dismissing the significance of Biden’s comments.

As CNN has reported, there had been growing wariness among Harris campaign aides about Biden’s propensity for gaffes at a time when the campaign doesn’t want to take any unnecessary political risks. Tuesday night’s “garbage” comments from Biden only ended up confirming the existing concerns of many Democrats.

Earlier Wednesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, said in an interview with CBS News that Biden’s comments were a response to “frustration with Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric,” rejecting the argument that they undermine a central message in Harris – the campaign to unite the country.

“I think there’s — the frustration that we’ve seen since January 6, the frustration with Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric, it’s firing passions, and I think… President Biden was very aware that he’s speaking about the rhetoric we heard at the time. So that doesn’t undermine it,” Walz said.

In an interview with ABC News, Walz said Harris’ remarks in Washington, DC, on Tuesday should be the message voters are focusing on, noting that Harris is the candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket, not Biden.

“The president has clarified his remarks, but let’s be very clear. The vice president and I have made it abundantly clear that we all want a part of this. Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric is what needs to end. He called this a country of waste and continues from the ‘enemy within,'” he said. “What you heard Vice President Harris say, and what I’m saying is that there’s room for all of us here, and I think that’s the one — she’s running for the presidential election, she puts the message out, and she gave that speech on the Ellipse that showed what we can be as a country.”