President Joe Biden issued a statement Tuesday night to say he misspoke when he referred to supporters of former President Donald Trump as “garbage” earlier in the evening.
The White House had to walk back the initial comment, which came just before Vice President Kamala Harris delivered what was billed as a message of unity in Washington.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, the president said he was upset to see comedian Tony Hinchcliffe refer to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” at former President Donald Trump’s Sunday rally in New York.
Biden issued the following statement on social media shortly:
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.
In remarks from the White House, Biden had said earlier to Latino voters:
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 I’m from– in my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people.
The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters– his– his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher, “The President referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as garbage.”
Hinchcliffe said at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon, “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico?”
Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity Tuesday that Hinchcliffe was not vetted by the campaign but that he saw the outcry as no “big deal.”
Hannity asked, “Do you wish [Hinchcliffe] wasn’t there?”
Trump responded, “Yeah, I don’t know if it’s a big deal or not, but I don’t want anybody making nasty jokes or stupid jokes, and probably he shouldn’t have been there.”
