Biden calls Trump's supporters "garbage"

Joe Biden described Donald Trump supporters as "garbage." The still-president made the claim during a virtual event with the Voto Latino organization, in which he reacted to the Republican's recent campaign event at Madison Square Garden.

The Democrat was commenting on what happened in New York on Sunday, specifically the joke made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico.

"And 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 -- I don't know the Puerto Rican that -- that I know -- or a Puerto Rico, where in my home state of Delaware, they're good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American. It's totally contrary to everything we've done, everything we've been," the president expressed.

The statement quickly went viral on social media, so he came out to rectify himself on his X account, arguing that he was actually referring to the rhetoric and not the Republican candidate's supporters.

"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. 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," Biden wrote.

A White House spokesman weighed in, assuring that the president did not refer to Trump's supporters as "garbage."

Alex Thompson, an Axios journalist, revealed in X that he tried to contact the White House to find out “if they had spoken to the president to ask him what he wanted to say before sending the transcript” to the media. According to his version, the White House asked for off-the-record comments, which Axios refused, prompting the Biden Administration not to respond.

Trump's response

The Republican echoed Biden's remarks during a campaign event in Pennsylvania and compared the situation to Hillary Clinton's in 2016, in which the Democratic candidate spoke of "deplorables" and "irrecoverables."

"Please forgive him. Please forgive him. He doesn't know what he's saying. These people...it's terrible. I'm convinced he loves me more than Kamala," Trump joked.

JD Vance took aim at the media

JD Vance, Trump's running mate, sharply criticized two Politico journalists for their coverage of Biden's remarks.

"Do Jon Lemire Alexander, Burns and Politico have a shred of integrity? Are they going to correct this blatant falsehood?" he posted on X, attaching a screenshot of the article published by the aforementioned media outlet.