As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump made their final big pitches to American voters, current President Joe Biden took it upon himself to declare that Trump’s supporters are “garbage.” Reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s campaign-killing “basket of deplorables” comment that played a significant part in derailing her electoral hopes, this latest gaffe could have an outsized impact. But only if the swiftly concocted narrative-control mechanism fails.
The Biden Liability
It’s an open secret that Biden’s off-the-cuff remarks are a source of nightmares for the White House staff and the massively left-leaning legacy media. While Harris was preparing to take to the stage at the Ellipse and tout her ability to “unite” Democrats and Republicans, her boss had other ideas:
“Donald Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community … 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.”
Irredeemable deplorables or human garbage? It’s quite the unity pitch.
Biden was referencing a comedian who appeared at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally last Sunday. The Harris campaign, her surrogates, and the Democrat-aligned media were incandescent at the poor-taste gags of the comedian. Pearls were dutifully clutched, and many front-page articles proclaimed the end of Trump’s aspirations.
Trump and his team swiftly denounced the comments and drew a line between what was said and the campaign’s official position – all standard fare for a damage-control operation. Naturally, this did not stop the narrative from becoming the defining message in the Fourth Estate with just a week to go before Election Day. But how did the opposing side react to Biden’s equally damning comments?
Garbage? What Garbage?
It is worth making a delineation. Tony Hinchcliffe is a comedian whose job is to be edgy and make jokes. Jokes are not necessarily reflective of the performer's opinion – less reflective of the person whose name is on the top ticket. Joe Biden, on the other hand, is not only the president of the United States, but he is also Kamala’s boss and, presumably, her most significant surrogate.
When the president made his “garbage” comment, the White House team quickly released a transcript clarifying his remarks. The text added an apostrophe, seemingly suggesting that Biden was only referring to Hinchcliffe. The memo reads, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s – his – demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” Putting aside for a moment that grammatically, this makes little sense, according to Axios, the rebuttal was issued by staff without ever actually speaking to the president first. How could they know his intention without even consulting him?
Biden himself tried to walk back his comments in a late-night X post echoing the White House rhetoric. He wrote:
“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.”
It’s Good to Be King!
Will Biden get a free pass for his latest “deplorables” moment? One would assume that – if history is any indicator – the “official” story would be enough. But perhaps not. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, on Tuesday night, referred to the president’s comments on The Source, saying:
“The White House is trying to say that what President Biden was saying — they’re putting an apostrophe there on ‘supporters’, saying it’s the singular, I guess referring to the comedian, that supporter’s comments. It’s hard to really look at that when you can listen to it for yourself.”
The Associated Press was also not buying the spin. Writing in a piece titled “Biden Suggests Trump Supporters Are Garbage,” the outlet notes, “In referring to Trump’s supporters as ‘garbage,’ however, Biden’s tone was at odds with the message that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is seeking to present as she aims to cast a broad appeal, including to disaffected Republicans.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was on the Harris shortlist for VP, says he wouldn't have called supporters of Trump "garbage," suggesting that he is also not convinced by the refutations.
Naturally, the Harris-friendly media were loath to cover the president’s remarks.
Even DC’s most prominent newspaper did not have a single story on either garbage or Biden on its digital front page. The New York Times had one article covering the gaffe but used it to paint Trump and his surrogates as desperately clutching at straws. If all this sounds familiar, it was pretty much the playbook that kicked in after Hillary Clinton made her “deplorables” comment. She didn’t mean what she said; you’ve misunderstood what she meant; the GOP is trying to spin a tempest in a teacup. Ultimately, such narrative control failed to undo the damage.
Deplorable Timing
Joe Biden is not campaigning for office. Kamala Harris is. But he is her most significant surrogate by virtue of being the sitting president. As Harris tried to woo voters with talk of unity, Biden declared half the country was garbage.
As of publishing time, the Harris campaign has not commented on Biden’s rhetoric. They have not denounced his words nor supported the “official” narrative. In fact, it appears, with just six days to go before Election Day, Team Harris has had enough of what they seem to consider an albatross around the neck of the campaign.
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