Reacting to an offensive joke about Puerto Rico delivered by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at former President Donald Trump’s Sunday night mega-rally, President Joe Biden made an even more offensive remark about Trump supporters. On a Tuesday night Zoom call with members of Voto Latino, Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his [Trump’s] supporters.” Yes, the President of the United States called 74 million Americans garbage. Mary Chastain reported on this story here.
Pres. Biden tonight just called 75 million people garbage.
“…The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” pic.twitter.com/Y8Wfts5ESu
— Michelle (@MichelleFaretta) October 30, 2024
The difference between Tony Hinchcliffe and Joe Biden is that Biden isn’t a comedian or making a joke.
Democrats truly believe proud America-loving patriots are garbage. Or as Hillary Clinton called us, “Deplorables”
Anyways, this was the most beautiful landfill I’ve ever seen! https://t.co/XpZXsyq16c pic.twitter.com/pRY0YcVxxD
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) October 30, 2024
News of Biden’s inflammatory remark immediately went viral on social media and eventually reached the podium in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where Trump was holding a rally.
In the clip below, Trump tells the crowd he finds Biden’s comment to be even worse than when Hillary Clinton called half of his supporters a “basket of deplorables” during a 2016 campaign speech.
Trump said, “Remember Hillary? She said ‘deplorable’ and then said ‘irredeemable,’ right? But she said ‘deplorable.’ That didn’t work out. ‘Garbage’ I think is worse.
He continued, “But he doesn’t know – you have to please forgive him. Please forgive him. For he not knoweth what he said,” adding, “And I’m convinced he likes me more than he likes Kamala.”
Trump responds: https://t.co/Zp25d9zO0y
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 30, 2024
The story gets worse.
NBC News reporter Gabe Gutierrez broke the story. According to independent writer Jerry Dunleavy, the White House gave Gutierrez a copy of the original transcript that said “supporters” (plural), but gave other reporters an ever-so-slightly altered version that added an apostrophe to the word. It said “supporter’s” (singular possessive).
This minor bit of stealth editing changed the meaning of Biden’s remark. Rather than calling Trump’s supporters garbage, the White House would like people to believe that Biden was referring to his supporter’s “fill in the blank,” when he suddenly loses his train of thought, as he often does, in the middle of the sentence.
White House can’t even decide on their spin. In the so-called transcript given to Gabe of NBC News (reporter who broke story), White House claimed Biden said “supporters’” (plural possessive), but in transcript given to Weijia & others, it is “supporter’s” (singular possessive). pic.twitter.com/jiHYI5ZWhU
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) October 30, 2024
Attaching the new, improved version (that included the apostrophe), Politico’s White House bureau chief Jonathan Lemire posted “the full Biden quote” on X. He claimed the quote was “being taken out of context.”
But unfortunately for Lemire, Biden can clearly be heard on the Zoom call saying, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” It simply wouldn’t make sense – even in Bidenspeak – to say “supporter’s” in this context.
The full Biden quote from the Zoom tonight, which is being taken out of context: pic.twitter.com/fHT9PvVjiO
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) October 30, 2024
Lemire, who was caught editing the quote to try to help Kamala and Biden, wants you to read his transcript rather than the now widely-available videohttps://t.co/D6zGRBMX8j https://t.co/IwisMkuhpp
— Sunny (@sunnyright) October 30, 2024
It was a valiant effort, but considering that a video of the call is all over the internet, Lemire wasn’t fooling anyone. One wonders why a smart man would risk his journalistic integrity over this. Oh – that’s right.
The Trump War Room reported that not even CNN was buying the spin.
Even CNN isn't buying the pathetic spin from Harris-Biden allies after Biden called Trump supporters "garbage": "It's hard to really look at that when you can listen to it for yourself." pic.twitter.com/vJoypAc1KE
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 30, 2024
Senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller weighed in.
Hell hath no fury like a Biden scorned. https://t.co/41gk3wBztt
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) October 30, 2024
Before calling a lid, Team Biden made a final attempt at damage control. But it was way too late for that.
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…
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 30, 2024
As I see it, apostrophegate rather ends the Hinchcliffe story as a problem for the Trump campaign. And lays it squarely at the feet of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. So much for Harris’s promise just hours earlier to be the president for all Americans during her much ballyhooed speech on the Ellipse.
Biden’s comment will also give fodder to those who believe he is trying to sabotage the Harris-Walz campaign.
A previous version of this article appeared on Legal Insurrection.
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