On Tuesday, President Joe Biden faced backlash for comments that seemed to describe Donald Trump’s supporters as “garbage” during an election campaign call. While speaking to VotoLatino, a nonprofit organization, Biden addressed remarks made by a speaker at Trump’s recent New York rally who referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden stated, referring to what he described as Trump’s “un-American demonization of Latinos.” Later, the White House clarified that Biden’s comments were directed at Trump’s rhetoric, not his supporters. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates explained, “The President referred to the hateful language at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’”


Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is facing a close race against Trump, with Election Day only a week away. Trump’s campaign immediately responded to Biden’s remarks, calling them “terrible.” At a Pennsylvania rally, Trump drew a parallel to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 comment describing half of his supporters as a “basket of deplorables,” suggesting, “Garbage, I think, is worse, right?” Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, also criticized Biden’s comment, calling it “disgusting” and accusing Biden and Harris of “attacking half of the country.”


The controversy stemmed from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s performance at Trump’s New York rally on Sunday, where he made derogatory jokes about Puerto Rico, African Americans, and Hispanic immigrants. Trump, distancing himself from the comedian’s comments, told Fox News that such remarks were unwelcome, adding, “Probably, he shouldn’t have been there.”

While residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, cannot vote in presidential elections, nearly six million Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. are eligible voters, according to Pew Research Center.