Donald Trump, Kamala Harris campaigns both in damage control after ‘garbage’ comments rock both campaigns

Vice President Kamala Harris has distanced herself from Joe Biden after the president appeared to refer to Trump supporters as “garbage”, in a damaging gaffe that has undercut her message of unity.

With less than a week before election day, Biden made the blunder during a video call with a Latino outreach group, just as 75,000 spectators had gathered in Washington to hear Harris’ “closing argument”, which urged voters to “turn the page” on the nation’s divisions.

Speaking in response to the controversial joke made at a Trump rally by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about “Puerto Rico being in island of garbage,” Biden told the Zoom call: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable and it’s an American”.

While Biden and the White House quickly moved to clarify the comment – insisting that the president was talking about Hinchcliffe, and not Trump’s supporters more broadly – the Harris campaign spent much of the morning in damage control.

Asked about her boss’s comments en route to campaigning in North Carolina today, Harris told reporters: “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.

“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career: I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not, and as President of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.”