Harris vows to ‘represent all Americans’ after Biden’s ‘trash’ remark

Policy

“We know that in this election we have the opportunity to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump who tried to divide us and fear each other.”

WILL WEISSERT and CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press

October 30, 2024

HARRISBURG, PA. (AP) – Kamala Harris urged Americans Wednesday to “stop pointing fingers at each other” as she tries to push back on the president’s past comments. Joe Biden O Donald TrumpSupporters and trash have focused their attention on their Republican opponent in the final days of the race.

“We know that in this election we have the opportunity to turn the page on the decades of Donald Trump, who tried to divide us and fear each other,” the Democratic candidate said.

Harris held rallies in three battleground states as part of a blitz in the final week of the election, with stops Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Madison, Wisconsin.

She emphasized unity and common ground as she expanded on her keynote speech Tuesday in Washington, where she laid out what her team called her campaign’s “closing argument.”

“I’m not trying to score political points,” he said vice president said. “I strive for progress.”

As she waited for Harris to take the stage in Raleigh, Liz Casal, 35, said she was “cautiously optimistic” about the election. Every week she tried to volunteer for the campaign, including making phone calls, knocking on doors with her young daughter and raising money for Harris’ candidacy.

“You hope for the best and plan for the worst,” Casal said.

Meanwhile, the White House was quick to explain that the president’s “garbage” comment was a reference to the rhetoric of Trump allies, not Trump supporters themselves. Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden “does not consider Trump supporters or anyone who supports Trump to be trash.”

The controversy began Tuesday — at the same time Harris spoke outside the White House — when Biden took part in a campaign event organized by the Latino advocacy group Voto Latino. Biden took the opportunity to criticize Sunday’s rally at Madison Square Garden, where a comedian called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

“The only trash I see there are his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American,” Biden said. “It’s completely contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

Before boarding Air Force Two for the flight to Raleigh, Harris told reporters that she did not agree with “any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

“I will represent all Americans, including those who do not vote for me,” she said.

Her words were an attempt to soften the controversy over Biden’s comments and put some distance between her and the president, something she has struggled with in the past.

Republicans seized on Biden’s comments, saying they were an echo of when Hillary Clinton, as the Democratic nominee in 2016, said half of Trump’s supporters belonged to a “basket of disgusting people.”

“We know what they believe. Because look how they treated you,” Trump said at his rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on Wednesday. “They treated you like trash. The truth is they treated our entire country like garbage.”

He also said, “Without a doubt, my supporters are of a much higher quality than Crooked Joe’s,” using his nickname for the president.

Landing in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for another rally later in the day, Trump posed for photos wearing a neon orange and yellow vest and sitting in the passenger seat of a garbage truck decorated with American flags and campaign signs.

“Joe Biden should be ashamed of himself if he even knows what he’s doing,” Trump said.

Travis Waters, 54, attending Harrisburg’s second rally of the day, shrugged off the uproar caused by Biden’s comments.

“Donald Trump has talked so much about so many other groups, and I haven’t heard the media express the same level of outrage,” Waters said.

In attacking Biden—and by extension, Harris—Republicans are glossing over Trump’s own history of offensive and demonizing rhetoric, such as calling the United States a “garbage can for the world” or describing political opponents as “enemies within.” Trump also called Harris a “stupid person” and “fucking lazy” and questioned whether she was on drugs.

Trump also rejected demands to apologize for a comment about Puerto Rico at his rally, acknowledging that “someone said some bad things” but adding that he “can’t imagine it’s a big deal.”

Political attack lines have a history of occasionally boomeranging back at the people who use them. For example, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, now Trump’s running mate, once described Democrats as beholden to “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable in their lives and the choices they’ve made.”

Vance’s three-year-old comments resurfaced after he became the vice presidential candidate, galvanizing Harris supporters, who have turned the label into a point of pride on shirts and bumper stickers, just as Trump supporters once cheerfully called themselves “disgusting.”

On Wednesday morning, Harris’ nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, downplayed Biden’s comments in television interviews.

“Let’s be very clear: The vice president and I have been absolutely clear that we want everyone to be a part of this,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Donald Trump’s divisiveness is something that needs to end.”

In Harrisburg, Harris fended off repeated interruptions from pro-Palestinian protesters objecting to her support for Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“Our goal is to fight for democracy and your right to be heard,” Harris said as one protester shouted. “That’s what’s at stake in this election.”

She added: “Look, everyone has the right to be heard, but I’m the one speaking now.”

Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina; Mark Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Adriana Gomez Licon in Rocky Mount, North Carolina; Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa; and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.