10/30/2024October 30, 2024
Harris says she opposes ‘any criticism of people based on who they vote for’
told reporters on Wednesday that she disagrees “with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” as she sought to defuse criticism of comments by during a fundraising call the previous evening, less than a week before the vote.
“I will represent all Americans, including those who don’t vote for me,” Harris said on Wednesday.
Biden had been responding to comments at a Trump rally where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his, his demonization of Latinos in unconscionable and it’s un-American,” Biden said, according to a transcript posted online by a White House spokesman following a fundraising call with Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino.
Several news organizations had carried the comments without the apostrophe in “supporter’s,” making the reference appear to refer to all Trump supporters rather than to Hinchcliffe, as the punctuation used by the White House implied. Biden said later online that “all I meant to say” was that Hinchcliffe’s comments “don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”
Nevertheless, the comments appeared to echo Hillary Clinton’s now infamous reference to a “basket of deplorables,” as she described around half of Trump’s supporter base during the 2016 campaign. These comments are often highlighted as one of the low points in Clinton’s losing campaign against Trump.
Harris’ running mate Tim Walz was also asked about Biden’s comments on “CBS Mornings” early Wednesday. Walz said that the president “was very clear that he’s speaking about the rhetoric we heard.” As a result, he said, the comment did not undermine the Democratic Party’s campaign call for unity.
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