US President Joe Biden was attacked by of Donald Trump and the Republicans because of allegations that he called the former president's supporters "trash", BTA reported, citing world agencies.
"The only trash I see floating around here is his supporters," Biden said at a campaign event via video conference. It was in response to racist comments by a comedian who, during a Donald Trump rally in New York, called Puerto Rico a "floating island of trash".
Joe Biden later wrote in Ex that he was referring to the words of the speaker at the Trump rally, not the ex-president's supporters. However, the Republicans did not waste time.
"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hate America and don't deserve four more years" at the White House, Caroline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican candidate, said in a statement. "Kamala must answer for this shameful attack on tens of millions of Americans," she added.
"That's a terrible thing to say,'' Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania. His running mate JD Vance described Joe Biden's comments as "disgusting".
"Minutes ago, Joe Biden said that our supporters, our patriots, are trash,", Republican Senator Marco Rubio also said. "He's talking about ordinary Americans who love their country.
In an interview with "Fox News" Trump distanced himself from the comedian's comments last night, saying he didn't know who he was. According to him, he should not have been on stage.
Biden's tone was at odds with the message Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is trying to convey as she aims to appeal broadly, including to disaffected Republicans, the AP noted. Shortly after Biden's comments, she promised to be "president of all Americans".
A short time later, Trump's campaign fundraiser sent out a text message that read: "Kamala's boss Joe Biden just called all my supporters trash!". This is followed by an assurance to recipients that Trump himself thinks "YOU ARE AWESOME".