President Joe Biden is trying to clarify remarks in which he condemned a joke by a comedian who supports Donald Trump, sparking a new round of controversy.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe sparked controversy on Sunday when he called the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico a “trash island” during a Trump rally. Trump distanced himself from the remarks.
As the 2024 U.S. election enters its final week, Biden sought to rebut Hinchcliffe’s words during a Zoom interview on Tuesday.
Some who heard his remarks thought he was attacking Trump “supporters” in general, but he later insisted he was simply attacking Hinchcliffe’s remarks.
The White House released a transcript trying to show that the placement of the apostrophe had a big impact on the president’s meaning during a video call with the nonprofit Voto Latino.
“The only trash I see is[Trump’s]supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos, which is unconscionable and un-American,” the transcript quoted Biden as saying.
Biden himself later wrote on .
“His demonization of Latinos is unjustified. That’s all I’m saying. The comments made at that rally are not reflective of who we are as a country.”
But Trump’s supporters seized on the comments, comparing them to a controversial remark made by Hillary Clinton in 2016 during Trump’s first campaign for office, when she said half of Trump’s supporters From “a miserable bunch of people.”
As the war of words escalated, Trump himself suggested that his White House rival Kamala Harris was engaged in a “hate campaign.”
Referring to Biden’s remarks, he said: “You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American people.”
The attacks were triggered by a series of comments made by Hinchcliffe and others during the Madison Square Garden rally that Biden referenced.
He admitted “some bad things were said” but said he didn’t think it was “a big deal”.
He did not apologize as demanded by prominent figures on the island itself, which is a U.S. territory. Many Republicans — including those from communities with large Latino populations — are outraged.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a key swing state, 90,000 Puerto Ricans told the BBC they would never forget the joke.
Residents of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Caribbean island territory, cannot vote in presidential elections, but the U.S.’s large diaspora can.
Hinchcliffe himself defended his material, saying his critics had “no sense of humour”.
Biden’s comments about the riot could cast a shadow over Kamala Harris’ rally on Tuesday night. .
On January 6, 2021, shortly before Trump supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol, Harris delivered what her campaign called her “closing argument” in Washington, DC.
She urged voters to “turn the page on the drama and conflict in American politics.”
North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher lays out the implications of the race for the White House in his twice-weekly US election briefing. British readers can Register here. People outside the UK can Register here.
