Shortly before Vice President Harris took the stage to deliver the closing argument for her campaign, promising to turn the page on division in the country, President Biden undermined that sentiment with a remark in a video call with a Latino voting group.
In Biden’s remarks, it sounded like he was calling supporters of former President Donald Trump “garbage.” Republicans have latched on to those comments, saying Biden had called half the country “garbage,” and making the gaffe a rallying cry — much like Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” quip at a 2016 fundraiser.
Biden and the White House quickly moved to clarify his comment. But it gave Republicans an opening to sidestep the controversy unleashed by a disparaging and politically toxic joke about Puerto Rico made by a comedian on Sunday at a Madison Square Garden rally for Trump.
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That joke has roiled the presidential campaign in its waning days as Puerto Ricans are a significant presence in places like Pennsylvania, which both the Trump and Harris campaigns see as a must-win state.
What Biden said
Biden tonight in condemning the joke about Puerto Rico.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his [supporters/supporter’s]–his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
The WH says Biden was talking about the comedian—“supporter’s”
At issue is the placement of an apostrophe. In a video call Tuesday with Voto Latino, Biden sounded like he was calling Trump supporters “garbage.”
The White House quickly issued a transcript to put Biden’s comment in a broader context, insisting that Biden had said “supporter’s,” to refer to the comedian’s quote and not “supporters.”
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…
Later, Biden attempted to clean up his remarks on x.com, saying that he was referring to the comedian’s joke at the rally.
What Biden’s gaffe means for Harris
Biden, who has a life-long history of gaffes, has kept a low profile since he dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris.
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Last week at a rare campaign event, he attracted attention when he said of Trump “we got to lock him up,” before quickly adding “politically.”
Conservatives have long complained that Democrats have used disparaging labels to describe their supporters. They point to then candidate Barack Obama’s remarks about “bitter” working-class voters who “cling to guns or religion” and former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton who described Trump’s supporters as “deplorables.”
Biden’s remark landed as Trump was onstage at a rally in Allentown, Pa., where Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, went on stage to demand an apology from Biden.
“We are not garbage: we are patriots who love America,” Rubio said.
The Trump campaign said it was an example of name-calling by the Harris campaign.
My column deadline is supposed to be Wednesday at noon, for submission the following Sunday. I’ll admit that sometimes I stretch that deadline a bit.
It’s Wednesday morning, and I am tired. I woke up at 4 a.m. to go to the bathroom and saw that the race had been called for Donald Trump. I saw a light on in the living room and stumbled out. Bo was sitting on the couch and I knew she knew. I sat down and said, “I saw,” and she said, “I know.” I went to lie down again because I had to get up for work; you have to clock in even if you’re scared for your family’s future.
I don’t want to write anything. I don’t want to think of fancy words or a good take on things and I don’t even really want to organize my thoughts. All I can think of is unprintable swear words. I’m sad and scared. Mad, too. Frustrated. Bitter, even. Like, this guy? Really? I could understand electing a regular conservative, but this friggin’ guy? With the bronzer and the rambling about Hannibal Lecter and the felony convictions in a court of law? Do I need to worry about anti-LGBTQ violence? Should I buy a gun to protect my family?
We don’t have a call on which way the House of Representatives will swing. Will abortion care be outlawed nationwide? Will it be safe for me to try and have a baby, given that any pregnancy for me is a high-risk pregnancy? Do I need to worry that, because I’ve publicly criticized Trump in a newspaper, I’ll be locked up or shot at, as he has indicated he’d like to do to members of the mainstream media?
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Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’m that important in the grand scheme of things, and this isn’t a big outlet (by national standards), but what if he gets bored once he’s through with CNN and starts looking for smaller targets?
This sucks. It sucks so much. Anyone who isn’t already rich, such as Scrooge McDuck, is going to have their life get significantly worse economically – including most of the regular people who voted for Trump. Is it really worth it for you guys in order to be able to see other people suffer? That’s just so weird to me. Good luck with the privatization of Medicare and Social Security, I guess.
Here in America, men hate women and white people hate Black people. Maybe Democrats would have won if they’d run a white guy. Or maybe they wouldn’t have. Maybe a majority of Americans want a dictator instead of a president. For the in-groups, fascism seems like a great deal. You don’t have to worry about stuff, pay attention to political goings-on, and all the people you don’t like just sort of go away.
At least I’m not hungover … Election Night in 2016 is a vivid memory for me. My mom, sister, our neighbor Roxanne and I were having an Election Night party because we were so sure we were going to see America elect its first female president. We started out the night drinking kir royales, a delicious drink made of raspberry liqueur and champagne. Then we settled in to watch the results roll in.
After a while, we ran out of the raspberry liqueur and switched to straight champagne. Then I switched to vodka (nobody else hit the vodka, that was a Victoria thing). I cried. Sobbed, actually. I was the sobbing liberal that Trump voters seem to enjoy making fun of. (I don’t know why people like laughing at someone who is scared and upset. Americans are meaner than I thought.)
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I was scared. My sister had recently converted to Islam and Trump had run on a Muslim ban. I was so drunk and so scared and all I could think of was how I was going to protect my baby sister. My baby sister is 24 now. Not a baby anymore. And she’s in the Netherlands at graduate school. Even though I miss her a lot, I’m so glad she’s there.
I had to take a pause from drafting this column because just now, in the middle of writing it, my dog Janey (who, by the way, is from Mexico) randomly threw up on the floor. So we’re both feeling the same way.
Last week, I wrote that this election felt, to me, like a callback to the battle of views between my two great-great-grandfathers: Filipino immigrant Victor and KKK member Garrett. Expansive idea of America vs. isolationist, exclusive, violent idea of America. America picked Garrett.
And now, I have to go clean dog barf off the floor. Which is most likely pretty much what the next four years are going to be like, politically and economically speaking.
Anthony Repaci recorded a hat trick as the Worcester Railers cruised to a 5-1 win over the Maine Mariners in an ECHL game Saturday in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Riley Piercey and Jack Randl scored in the second period as Worcester took a 2-1 lead. Maine’s Sebastian Vidmar opened the scoring earlier in the second.
Michael Bullion stopped 25 shots for Worcester, while Maine goalie Nolan Maier had 18 saves.
The Mariners return to action Wednesday when they hosting Reading at Cross Insurance Arena.
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AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A ranked-choice voting tabulation aimed at determining the winner of a key congressional race in Maine will start on Tuesday with scanning of ballots into a computer at a centralized location, with a goal of having results by week’s end, the state’s top election official said Saturday.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden already said he won the election in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District but the secretary of state said neither Golden nor Republican Austin Theriault surpassed 50% of first-place votes on Election Day, necessitating the shipment of ballots to the state capital for an additional voting round.
Under Maine’s ranked choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference on ballots. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, then the lesser choices of the last-place finisher’s supporters are reallocated to establish a majority winner.
Election officials intend to begin scanning ballots into a computer Tuesday afternoon with a goal of running the tabulation by week’s end, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Saturday. After ranked voting is concluded, state election officials will begin a formal recount requested by Theriault based on the razor-thin margin.
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As it stands, both candidates were just below 49%, with Golden holding a slight edge of about 2,000 votes, according to figures released by the secretary of state.
Golden and Theriault were the only candidates on the ballot, but Diana Merenda of Surry, who ran an organized write-in candidacy, received several hundred votes. The second choices of any voters who left their first choice blank also will be counted. Other write-in candidates will be treated as blanks.
The race is among a handful of pivotal races without a declared winner, with control of the U.S. House at stake. The thin margin came in an election in which Republican Donald Trump won the 2nd District, allowing him to collect one of Maine’s four electoral votes. Maine is one of two states that split electoral votes.