“The only trash I see floating around here is his supporters,” Joe Biden said of Donald Trump’s supporters, sparking consternation in the Democratic camp. With this new gaffe, “Grandpa Joe” confirms that he is a liability for Kamala Harris, who continues to try to keep him away from her campaign for the presidential election on November 5.
The octogenarian president made this mistake on Tuesday, in a video call during which he criticized the comments, denounced as racist, of the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who during a Donald Trump meeting on Sunday had compared Puerto Rico to a ” floating island of garbage. The White House and the unpopular president himself quickly reversed course, asserting that only the comedian’s “odious rhetoric” was targeted, and not Donald Trump’s supporters. But the damage was done and the Republicans did not waste a minute to exploit the blunder.
“You don’t like Americans.”
“Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters,” reacted Donald Trump, at a meeting on Wednesday in North Carolina. “My response to Joe and Kamala is simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans.” A few hours later, this time in Wisconsin, the Republican appeared in the cabin of a garbage truck, “in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for the Republican candidate, denounced a “shameful attack targeting tens of millions of Americans”, while Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican tenor, demanded an apology from Joe Biden: “We are not not trash. We are patriots who love America,” he said.
Cold sweats
The day after an emblematic evening which saw her bring together tens of thousands of activists in Washington, Kamala Harris found herself once again on Wednesday having to limit the damage caused. “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she said.
In the Democratic camp, everyone keeps in mind the resounding mistake made by Hillary Clinton during a fundraising evening in September 2016 in New York. She estimated that half of Donald Trump’s supporters were “pitiful” people. Despite the public regrets of the Democratic candidate, this contemptuous expression was proudly repeated over and over again by the Trumpists, with the billionaire even making a television advertisement for it. And, when it came time to take stock of Hillary Clinton’s defeat, the impact of the insult was considered notable.
Last week, Joe Biden had already given the Democrats another cold sweat, declaring, still regarding Donald Trump: “We have to lock him up.” He then corrected the situation, claiming to have meant “lock him up politically”.