Trump and allies link Biden’s ‘garbage’ comment to Clinton’s 2016 ‘deplorables’ remark
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Trump’s team saw the moment from Mr Biden as similar to the occasion when Mrs Clinton in 2016 condemned half of Trump’s supporters as belonging in “what I call the basket of deplorables.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – Donald Trump and his allies are trying to recreate a moment that resonated deeply with his supporters in the 2016 campaign: when Mrs Hillary Clinton referred to Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables”.
On Oct 29, it was US President Joe Biden who provided the ammunition, appearing to call Trump supporters “garbage” while talking to Latino allies by video.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage’,” Mr Biden said, adding what sounded like: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters – his, his demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
The White House insisted that what Mr Biden had said was “his supporter’s demonisation”, referring only to the comic who initially insulted Puerto Ricans with an offensive joke at Trump’s New York rally on Oct 27.
Trump’s allies insisted the meaning was clear.
Within minutes of the clip of Mr Biden’s remarks going viral on social media on the night of Oct 29, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida addressed Trump’s rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and informed the crowd of Biden’s statement.
“I have breaking news for you, Mr President – you may not have heard this,” Mr Rubio told the audience after Trump had called him up to the stage and stood next to him. “Just moments ago, Joe Biden stated that our supporters are garbage – are garbage.”
Mr Rubio added, as the crowd booed and Trump shook his head: “He’s talking about the Border Patrol. He’s talking about nurses. He’s talking about teachers. He’s talking about everyday Americans who love their country and want to dream big again and support you, Mr President.”
Trump’s team saw the moment from Mr Biden as similar to the occasion when Mrs Clinton, speaking at a fund-raiser in late summer during the 2016 campaign, condemned half of Trump’s supporters as belonging in “what I call the basket of deplorables”. She had added: “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic – you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”
Mrs Clinton went on to say the other half of his supporters felt let down and ignored by the government, but the damage had been done. Trump’s supporters proudly called themselves “deplorables”, owning the label, as the Trump campaign said it proved how little Mrs Clinton thought of a significant chunk of the country.
The Trump campaign of 2024 immediately sought to highlight Mr Biden’s comment, which was made far later in the race than Mrs Clinton’s remark. Mr Biden’s comment did not just give fodder to Trump to portray the President as uninterested in those he represents; it gave the Trump campaign yet another opportunity to tightly tie election rival Kamala Harris to the unpopular sitting president.
“That’s terrible,” Trump said from the stage at his rally. “So you have – remember Hillary, she said ‘deplorable’.” He added of Mr Biden: “I’m convinced that he likes me more than he likes Kamala.”
In a post on social platform X early on Oct 30, Trump kept up the attack on Mr Biden’s comment, saying: “You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American People.”
Trump has repeatedly demonised Democrats, using terms that have included “the enemy within”, “communists”, “Marxists” and “vermin”. He has attacked his critics and threatened some with prosecution if he becomes president.
The insult of Puerto Rico at the rally on Oct 27 by comic Tony Hinchcliffe set off a backlash
Even the Trump campaign issued an uncharacteristically defensive statement distancing Trump from Hinchcliffe’s joke. And both of Trump’s events in Pennsylvania on Oct 28 featured Puerto Rican women who praised the former president and portrayed him as an ally of Puerto Rico.
By night time on Oct 28, the Trump campaign was using the Biden comments to appeal to his supporters. Trump sent a fund-raising e-mail with the subject line: “You are not garbage! I love you! You are the best our nation has to offer.”
Trump’s running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, who has been the former president’s most aggressive defender, posted on X about the remark, writing: “This is disgusting. Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country. There’s no excuse for this. I hope Americans reject it.” NYTIMES
