Republicans in tight Senate races less than a week ahead of Election Day are pouncing on President Biden calling supporters of former President Trump “garbage” in a final push to rally support for down-ballot GOP races.
Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick released a campaign ad Wednesday showing video footage of Biden’s remarks, followed by footage of his incumbent competitor, Sen. Bob Casey, heaping praise on Biden.
“Donald Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community,” Biden said during a campaign call at the White House Tuesday. “Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick greets supporters at the Indigo Hotel during a primary election night event May 17, 2022, in Pittsburgh. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
The McCormick ad showed Biden’s remarks and video showing Casey praising Biden as a man of unparalleled “integrity.”
“Clean up their mess on Nov. 5. Vote Republican. Vote Dave McCormick,” a voiceover in the ad says.
Biden’s comments set off a lightning storm of criticism from Republicans nationwide, with some comparing it to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment during a fundraiser during her failed 2016 campaign, which was viewed as likely undermining her campaign.
“We are not garbage. We are patriots who love America,” Sen. Marco Rubio said at a Trump rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Tuesday.
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The White House has attempted to backtrack Biden’s comment, saying it was in reference specifically to remarks made during Trump’s massive Madison Square Garden rally Sunday evening. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the popular podcast “Kill Tony,” sparked backlash after he cracked a joke hours ahead of Trump taking the stage at Madison Square Garden that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage.”
The White House attempted to walk back the president’s comments Tuesday evening. Administration spokesman Andrew Bates told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich Biden’s remark “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’”
Biden added in a follow-up clarification on X he was referring to the comedian’s rhetoric, not Trump supporters across the board.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro looks on as President Biden delivers remarks after a briefing on Interstate 95 highway emergency repair and reconstruction efforts in Philadelphia June 17, 2023. (Julia Nikhinson/AFP via Getty Images)
“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden wrote in a post on X. “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.”
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“Sen. Casey respects all Pennsylvanians regardless of how they vote,” Casey campaign spokesperson Maddy McDaniel told Fox News Digital when approached for comment about McCormick’s ad.
McCormick believes Pennsylvania voters are realizing the importance of the 2024 election. (Reuters I Associated Press)
The National Republican Senatorial Committee also unleashed on Biden’s comments, pointing to four Democrats in tight races against Republican challengers — Montana Sen. Jon Tester, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running for the Senate in Arizona — for previous negative comments about Trump supporters.
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The NRSC compared Biden’s remarks to Baldwin saying in 2016 that Republicans were failing a “moral test” for their Trump support and Gallego claiming in 2016 that Trump’s campaign “drew out the worst people in the world.”
Former President Trump on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s show Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Fox News)
“These Democrats have spent years attacking Donald Trump and his supporters as deplorable and racist, even calling them ‘the worst people in the world.’ Now that they’re shamelessly pandering for support from Trump supporters, voters need to know if they will condemn Joe Biden’s disgusting remarks or fall in line yet again,” NRSC spokesman Philip Letsou said in comment about the four Democrats.
The Trump campaign also condemned the remarks, claiming Biden and Vice President Harris not only “hate President Trump,” they also “despise” his millions of supporters.
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“President Trump is backed by Latinos, Black voters, union workers, angel moms, law enforcement officers, border patrol agents and Americans of all faiths, and Harris, Walz and Biden have labeled these great Americans as fascists, Nazis and, now, garbage. There’s no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don’t just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him. Kamala does not deserve four more years. President Trump will be a president for ALL Americans,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in comment.
Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and Dave McCormick, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate for Pennsylvania, shake hands during a campaign event in Reading, Pa., Oc. 9, 2024. (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)
McCormick joined “Fox & Friends” Wednesday, where he condemned Biden’s rhetoric and demanded an apology.
“Any time you call half of Americans garbage, because half the population is supporting President Trump, I think this is the kind of divisive rhetoric that we need to get out of politics. I think it’s terribly polarizing. And, so, not only has President Biden, Kamala Harris and Bob Casey had policies that have hurt more than half of Americans with skyrocketing prices, the fentanyl crisis. Now, they’re actually showing disrespect for him. So I hope the president will apologize for that,” McCormick said while speaking to Fox News from a diner in Gap, Pennsylvania, Wednesday.
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“I think it shows how they really feel about people that support President Trump,” he said.
Harris also distanced herself from Biden’s remarks Wednesday, saying her final pitch speech to voters in Washington, D.C., Tuesday reflected that she would govern all Americans if elected, no matter their political party.
“I think that, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear. I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said.
“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career,” Harris said. “I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people whether they support me or not, and as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans whether you vote for me or not.”