President Joe Biden took a swipe at Donald Trump’s supporters on Tuesday (US time) as he reacted to the Republican presidential nominee’s weekend rally in New York, which was overshadowed by crude and racist rhetoric.
In a call organised by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden responded to a comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at the Madison Square Garden event.
Joe Biden on the campaign trail in Baltimore earlier this week.Credit: AP
Biden’s initial comments were garbled, Associated Press reports.
“Just 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, I don’t know the Puerto Rican that I know, the Puerto Rico where I’m fr – in my home state of Delaware. They’re good, decent honorable people,” he said.
The president then added: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage’.”
Republicans quickly highlighted Biden’s remark.
“Moments ago Joe Biden stated that our supporters, our patriots, are garbage,” Florida senator Marco Rubio said in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “He’s talking about everyday Americans who love their country.”