Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro distanced himself from President Biden‘s controversial remarks calling Trump supporters “garbage.”
“I had not heard that until now, Kaitlan, so I’m kind of giving you my fresh reaction to it,” Shapiro reacted to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins playing the clip of Biden’s comments on Tuesday night. “I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn’t support.”
When asked whether Biden should clarify his comment, Shapiro replied, “Well, I think President Biden will decide what he wants to say. It’s certainly not words that I would choose, and I think it’s important that we remain focused on the contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and not attacking supporters of either candidate.”
The governor of the key battleground state was once considered a top contender for Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.
Biden did attempt to clarify his comments on social media.
“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,” Biden wrote on X. “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.”
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Biden’s comments were made during a virtual Harris campaign call with Voto Latino. He took a swipe at former President Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden, which made headlines after insult comedian Tony Hinchiffe made jokes mocking different ethnic groups, with one joke referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said on the call. “[Trump’s] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it is un-American.”
The remarks were widely condemned on social media. Trump himself reacted to Biden’s “terrible” comment during a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
“Remember Hillary? She said ‘deplorable’ and then said ‘irredeemable,’ right? But she said ‘deplorable.’ That didn’t work out. ‘Garbage’ I think is worse,” Trump said to his supporters. “But he doesn’t know- you have to please forgive him. Please forgive him. For he not knoweth what he said.”
“And I’m convinced he likes me more than he likes Kamala,” Trump quipped.
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A White House spokesperson had previously told Fox News, “The President referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’” The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Biden’s comment comes in stark contrast to the message Vice President Kamala Harris gave to voters in the Ellipse outside the White House in what many have called her final sales pitch to the American people ahead of the election.
“I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solution to make your life better. I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress. I pledge to listen to experts, to those who will be impacted by the decisions I make and to people who disagree with me,” Harris said at the Ellipse rally. “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at the table.”
