Biden tries to end furore after seeming to call Trump supporters ‘garbage’
Al Jazeera
The outgoing president’s comments came as Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris made a major address.
United States President Joe Biden has been forced to issue a clarification after he appeared to refer to supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as “garbage”.
In a livestream on Tuesday with the advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden attempted to denounce the rhetoric at a recent Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, which was criticised as racist and misogynistic.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage,” Biden said in the livestream, before proceeding to call Puerto Ricans “good, decent, honourable people”.
Then, he added, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his hatred — his demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
The episode was immediately seized upon by leading Republicans, including Trump, who interpreted the statement as an insult towards the average conservative voter.
