Harris tries to defuse Biden's “garbage” consequences – DW – October 30, 2024

Kamala Harris told reporters on Wednesday that she disagrees with “any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” as she sought to deflect criticism of comments made by Joe Biden during a fundraising appeal the night before, less than a week before the Vote to defuse.

“I will represent all Americans, even those who don’t vote for me,” Harris said Wednesday.

Biden had responded to comments at a Trump rally where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

“The only trash I see floating out there is that of his supporters — his, his demonization of Latinos in incomprehensible and un-American ways,” Biden said, according to a transcript posted online by a White House spokesman after a fundraising appeal with a Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino had published.

Several news organizations had published the comments without the apostrophe in the form “supporter,” making it appear that the reference was to all Trump supporters and not to Hinchcliffe, as the punctuation used by the White House suggested. Biden later said online that “I just wanted to say” that Hinchcliffe's comments “do not reflect who we are as a nation.”

Still, the comments appeared to echo Hillary Clinton's now-infamous reference to a “basket of deplorables,” as she described about half of Trump's support base during the 2016 campaign. These comments are often highlighted as one of the low points in Clinton's losing campaign against Trump.

Harris' Vice President Tim Walz was also asked about Biden's comments on “CBS Mornings” early Wednesday. Walz said the president “has made it very clear that he is talking about the rhetoric that we have heard.” As a result, he said, the comment did not undermine the Democratic Party's campaign call for unity.