Trump Hits Biden On ‘Garbage’ Remark As Harris Distances Herself

Vice President Kamala Harris said she “strongly” disagreed with comments made by President Joe Biden that have been seized on by Republicans as insulting to Donald Trump’s supporters, seeking to distance herself from a brewing controversy that threatens to undercut her momentum in the final week of campaigning.

“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,” Harris told reporters on Wednesday before leaving on a campaign swing through three battleground states.

Biden in a call with a Latino group on Tuesday addressed remarks from a comedian at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday who denigrated Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been,” Biden said on the call.

The White House disputed characterizations of the remark, saying Biden intended to say “supporter’s” in specific reference to the comedian who made the derogatory comments, and the president also sought to clarify the remarks on X.

But Trump, fellow Republicans and conservative media pounced on his comment, using it to try and move past Democratic criticism of the rally and anger among Latino groups over the initial dig at Puerto Rico. The former president assailed Biden over the remarks Wednesday, including from a garbage truck in Wisconsin.

Trump and Harris made dueling trips to swing states on Wednesday, as the focus shifts to mobilizing supporters to head to the ballot box. Voters on Wednesday also received a fresh dose of economic data, which show the US economy expanded at a robust pace in the third quarter as household purchases accelerated.

Here’s how the presidential race is shaping up:

Trump and Harris held dueling star-studded events in Wisconsin to mobilize supporters in the key swing state, with the Republican former president campaigning in the Green Bay area with NFL legend Brett Favre and the Democratic nominee bringing popular bands to the college town of Madison, which is also the state capital.

Trump during his speech recounted shaking hands with Favre, who played in the NFL for 20 seasons, much of that time with the Green Bay Packers.

“His fingers are like sausages. No wonder he could throw the ball so hard,” Trump said of Favre. “I’ve watched him throw those 500-yard games like it was nothing. He was flinging it.”

The candidates fanned out to battleground states as the focus increasingly shifts to encouraging voters to cast their ballots after Trump and Harris both delivered their closing arguments in a bid to sway the few remaining undecideds.

After visiting stops in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Harris ended the day in Madison, where singer-songwriters Gracie Abrams and Remi Wolf, British folk rock band Mumford & Sons and indie rock favorites Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner of The National performed before she spoke.

As she did at her rally on the National Mall Tuesday night, the vice president paid special attention to young people in the audience. “I love your generation. I just love you guys,” Harris said. “One of the reasons is you all are rightly impatient for change.”

“We got six days to get this thing done, and no one can sit on the sidelines,” she added. “So let’s spend the next six days so that when we look backward after the sixth day, we will know we did everything we could.”

Trump held a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, then traveled to to Wisconsin, where he was joined by Favre.

He revisited Biden’s remarks on Wednesday, criticizing the president during a rally in North Carolina.

“Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters, he called them garbage. And they mean it,” Trump said. “My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple. You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans.”

The uproar over Biden’s remarks has offered Trump an opportunity to shift the narrative from the criticism his own campaign faced for the Madison Square Garden rally.

After arriving in Wisconsin, Trump took questions from reporters and climbed aboard a garbage truck on the tarmac of the airport that was emblazoned with his name and his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.

“How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden,” Trump said.

Trump said his supporters “don’t think in terms of garbage. They don’t use terms like that, and it’s a shame and Joe Biden should be ashamed of himself.”

The Biden administration sought to take a victory lap on the latest economic data, highlighting accelerating consumer spending — which comprises the largest share of economic activity — and touting progress on tackling inflation, a major concern of voters and one of Harris’ top political vulnerabilities.

“Consumer spending is up, and so are savings on the back of good job opportunities, rising real wages and renewed optimism,” Lael Brainard, a top economic adviser to Biden, told reporters.

“It wasn’t so long ago when commentators were certain we would need a recession to beat the inflation caused by the pandemic, but it is now clear we’ve been able to bring inflation down to rates from before the pandemic, while growing faster than projected, and that didn’t happen by chance,” Brainard added, touting efforts to strengthen supply chains, spur energy production and invest in cutting-edge industries.

Trump is expected to make Grand Rapids, Michigan, the final stop of his campaign, according to a person familiar with the Republican nominee’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss them.

The location portends to be a superstitious choice for the former president. Trump wrapped up both his successful 2016 run for the White House and his 2020 campaign — which he lost to Biden — with events in Grand Rapids.

Michigan is one of the seven battlegrounds likely to determine the election outcome, with the RealClearPolitics average of polls showing Harris up by half a percentage point in the state.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the action film star and California’s former governor, endorsed Harris on Wednesday, adding to a list of prominent Republicans who are breaking ranks with their party to oppose Trump’s return to the White House.

In a lengthy statement, Schwarzenegger criticized the former president, warning that reelecting Trump would leave the nation “angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful.”

“Vote this week,” Schwarzenegger said in a post on X. “Turn the page and put this junk behind us.”

Schwarzenegger, however, tempered his endorsement, saying he was frustrated with both major political parties and wanted to “tune out” politics. His statement focused on his opposition to Trump’s rejection of the 2020 election results and use of divisive rhetoric but did not highlight any of Harris’ policies.

Schwarzenegger has long been a critic of Trump and replaced the former president as host of the “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2016.

Harris will spend election night at her alma mater Howard University in Washington, as results roll in, according to a person familiar with the matter who detailed her plans on condition of anonymity.

The vice president has often spoken about the importance of Howard, a historically Black university, in her life story — particularly in launching her toward a career in public service.

And she’s sought to highlight her ties to the institution in her bid to become the first Black woman president, tapping networks for graduates of historically Black colleges and universities as well as fraternities and sororities to bolster her fundraising and voter outreach efforts.