Biden sparked significant controversy with his remarks during a campaign call on Tuesday, addressing a recent dispute that emerged after a speaker at a Trump rally in New York referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
EDITOR’S PICKS
- ‘I Feel Sorry For Joshua’ After Knockout Loss To Dubois – Fury
- EPL: What We’re Lacking Is Luck – Ten Hag Reacts After Loss To West Ham
- REVEALED: Why TCN Is Struggling To Resolve Power Outages In Northern State
When asked about the president’s words, Vice President Harris responded to reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, saying, “First of all, he clarified his comments.”
“But let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
As she resumed her campaign trail, 60-year-old Harris emphasized that she would be a “president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.”
During a campaign stop in Raleigh, North Carolina, Harris added, “Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t consider people who disagree with me as the enemy.”
Meanwhile, Republicans seized on Biden’s remarks, which risked overshadowing a major election speech Harris gave outside the White House on Tuesday, where she called for unity over what she described as the chaos and division under Trump.
“Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters,” Trump told a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. “You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans.”
The controversy over the comments by 81-year-old Biden, who exited the presidential race in July, has highlighted his increasing marginalization from Harris’s campaign.
U.S. media reports suggest that Harris’s aides view Biden as a potential electoral liability and have turned down his offers for joint appearances on the campaign trail.
FURTHER READING
- Oko-Abe Community High School Nears Completion as Rep Wale Raji, Education Commissioner Tolani Alli-Balogun Inspect Epe Schools
- NLC Knocks IMF Over Fuel Subsidy Removal Denial
- N3 Billion Fraud: Labour Ministry Summons National Assembly Staff Leadership
– ‘Don’t fuel partisan fire’ –
Some Democratic lawmakers representing areas with significant Republican electorates have also felt forced to distance themselves from the controversy.
“Any elected official or candidate who calls Americans or America ‘garbage’ is flat out wrong,” said Representative Jared Golden.
“We don’t need leaders to add fuel to partisan fires that are dividing us,” added Golden, who is in a tough reelection race in the northeastern state of Maine.
Biden made his comments in a video call with the nonprofit VotoLatino and they went viral shortly afterwards.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” said Biden.
“His, his, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s un-American.”
Biden later said on X, formerly Twitter, that he had “referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter” — singular.
“That’s all I meant to say,” he said.
The White House later released a transcript adding a single apostrophe — claiming that Biden said “supporter’s” instead of “supporters,” in a bid to back up his assertion that he was referring to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s comments at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.
Click here to watch our video of the week:
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
