Disservice by the US president Will Biden's "garbage" statement cost Harris victory?
Did President Biden call Trump supporters garbage? The White House emphasizes that the president was misunderstood. Meanwhile, outrage is building on the Trump side.
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- At times it seemed as if the tasteless joke by a guest speaker could spoil Donald Trump's final spurt in the election campaign.
- Then Joe Biden responds - and suddenly the story is different.
- Biden tries to calm down his statement - Kamala Harris clearly distances herself from Biden
Joe Biden is notorious for his rhetorical missteps - just days before the US presidential election, the 81-year-old president made another gaffe by apparently referring to Donald Trump's supporters as "trash". In doing so, he did a disservice to the campaign of his Vice President Kamala Harris. The Trump camp immediately exploited the outgoing incumbent's remarks with relish.
According to the official White House transcript, however, Biden did not describe the supporters themselves as garbage, but rather the "demonization of Latinos" by the supporters. Biden himself also announced shortly afterwards on the online platform X that he had meant the rhetoric. "His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I wanted to say." Trump confidant, tech billionaire Elon Musk, nevertheless wrote that Biden had called half of America "garbage".
Right-wing populist Trump was actually on the defensive after a comedian mocked Puerto Rico as an "island of garbage" at his New York rally. The outrage in the Latino community was huge. Then came Biden and, in a conversation with the organization VotoLatino, referred to the racist gaffe: "The only garbage I see out there is his supporters."
Appeasement from the White House
The White House immediately tried to clear up the campaign bombshell, explaining that the president had been referring solely to the comedian's "hateful rhetoric" - not at all to Trump's supporters.
But by then the boomerang effect had already set in: "Terrible, terrible - terrible thing to say," Trump said. The former president compared the statement to the infamous comment made by Hillary Clinton, who lost to him in the 2016 election. Clinton had said at the time that half of Trump's supporters were "deplorables". "Garbage is worse, I think, right?" said Trump.
Found food
Vice-candidate J.D. Vance also jumped on it immediately: "Kamala Harris and Joe Biden should be ashamed of themselves," Vance wrote on X. For Trump and his campaign team, the scandal should be a feast for the eyes - because it could put a new spin on a story that they themselves have a problem with.
Reminder of Clinton's misstep
Clinton's statement is a bad memory in the Democratic camp - it was considered one of the big mistakes of her campaign that contributed to her defeat against Trump.
Harris was forced to distance herself clearly from Biden on Wednesday. She rejected "any criticism of people based on who they vote for", she said.
Democrats also distanced themselves from Biden's statements. The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, told CNN that he would "never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or other Americans, even if they supported a candidate I don't support".
The furor surrounding Biden's statement was very inconvenient for Harris, as she had presented herself the previous evening at a rally in Washington as the future president of all US citizens who wanted to unite the country and overcome the divisions of the past.
Political scientist John Hansen from the University of Chicago does not rule out the possibility that the Biden misstep will cost votes. "It's so close that anything can matter," he said.
Harris distances himself from Biden
Biden, who defeated Trump four years ago, originally wanted to run against the Republican again himself. After a disastrous performance in the TV duel against Trump and increasing criticism from within his own ranks, he finally gave up his candidacy at the end of July and Harris entered the race in his place.
At the beginning of the week, US media reported that the Harris team was increasingly distancing itself from Biden in view of the risks. The idea of making more joint appearances had been kindly rejected. Until the election is over, Kamala Harris should avoid joint appearances with Biden, said political scientist Larry Sabato from the University of Virginia. "Biden is pretty unpopular and also rusty and out of shape."
