白宫和副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯的竞选团队周三继续清理总统乔·拜登的“垃圾”评论，尽管前总统唐纳德·特朗普抓住了这一点，争议主导了新闻周期，分散了哈里斯的“结案陈词”
周二晚上，拜登在非营利组织Voto Latino主办的一次竞选电话会议上，似乎将特朗普的支持者称为“垃圾”。
“就在几天前，他集会上的一位发言者打电话来波多黎各一个“漂浮的垃圾岛”，根据CNN播出的筹款视频剪辑，拜登说。
“我不认识我所认识的波多黎各人，也不认识我的家乡特拉华州的波多黎各人，他们是善良、正派、可敬的人。我看到的唯一的垃圾是他的支持者，他对拉丁美洲人的妖魔化是不合理的，也是不美国的。这完全违背了我们所做的一切，我们一直以来的一切，”拜登说。
他的评论很快引起了共和党人的不满，当时哈里斯正在椭圆广场附近发表结案陈词，呼吁美国人翻过仇恨言论和美国政治分裂的一页。
周三，在北卡罗来纳州洛克山的一次竞选集会上，特朗普将哈里斯与拜登的评论联系在一起。
“昨晚，乔·拜登在为她的竞选活动打电话时，终于说出了他和卡玛拉对我们支持者的真实想法。他称它们为垃圾。他们是认真的，”特朗普说。
川普说:“尽管毫无疑问，我的支持者比歪乔或说谎的卡玛拉素质高得多我对乔和卡玛拉的回应非常简单:如果你不爱美国人，你就不能领导美国。"
拜登本人在周二晚上发布了一则澄清，称他的评论是关于开这个玩笑的喜剧演员，并“提到特朗普的支持者在麦迪逊广场花园集会上对波多黎各的仇恨言论是垃圾——这是我唯一能想到的形容它的词。”
“他对拉丁美洲人的妖魔化是不合情理的。这就是我想说的。那次集会上的言论没有反映出我们作为一个国家是什么样的。
在她的每日简报会上，记者就拜登的评论向白宫新闻秘书卡琳·让·皮埃尔施压。
“不，他不认为特朗普的支持者或任何支持特朗普的人是垃圾，”让-皮埃尔坚持说。
“总统已经说了三年多了，他已经多次说过，他是所有人的总统。住在红州没关系，住在蓝州也没关系。”
当被问及拜登是否说错话或对自己的言论感到后悔时，让-皮埃尔回答说，总统“澄清了他说的话”，以确保没有“断章取义”。
”他采取了额外的步骤来澄清。而且，你知道，你不会从许多当选官员身上看到这一点，你肯定不会从前任总统身上看到这一点。而这位总统希望确保它不会被断章取义，”让-皮埃尔说。
让-皮埃尔说，周二晚上，总统在哈里斯演讲后与她通了电话，向她表示祝贺。不过，她没有说，当他们交谈时，拜登是否已经道歉或提到了他的评论。
就哈里斯而言，她试图与这些评论保持距离。在接受美国广播公司首席白宫记者玛丽·布鲁斯采访时，哈里斯被问及听到他的“垃圾”评论时有何感受。
“首先，我认为总统已经解释了他的意思，”哈里斯告诉布鲁斯。“但我早些时候说过，我强烈反对任何基于他们投票给谁的人的批评，我在我的职业生涯中已经清楚地表明了这一点，包括我昨晚在我认为这一切发生之前的讲话，那就是我打算成为所有美国人的总统，包括那些在这次选举中可能不会投票给我的人。”
但这一事件并不是白宫和哈里斯的竞选团队第一次在拜登失态引起关注后不得不进行清理。就在上周，拜登谈到特朗普时说:“我们必须把他关起来。政治上把他关起来。”
此外，拜登计划在本周晚些时候两次前往宾夕法尼亚州参加竞选和官方活动。让-皮埃尔说，现在有计划调整他的时间表。
White House tries to clean up Biden's 'garbage' comment as Trump seizes on it
The White House and Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign on Wednesday continued to do clean up from President Joe Biden's "garbage" comment, even as former President Donald Trump seized on it and the controversy dominated the news cycle, distracting from Harris' "closing argument."
On Tuesday night, Biden seemed to call Trump supporters as "garbage" during a campaign call hosted by the nonprofit Voto Latino.
"And just the other day, a speaker at his rally calledPuerto Ricoa 'floating island of garbage,'" Biden said, according to a video clip from the fundraiser that aired on CNN.
"I don't -- I -- I don't know the Puerto Rican that -- that I know -- or a Puerto Rico, where I'm fr- -- in my home state of Delaware, they're good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters -- his -- 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.
His comments quickly drew fire from Republicans and came just as Harris was delivering her closing argument speech nearby on the Ellipse, calling for Americans to turn the page on hateful rhetoric and division in American politics.
At a campaign rally in Mount Rock, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump tied Harris to Biden's comments.
"Now speaking on a call for her campaign last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage. And they mean it," Trump said.
"Even though without question my supporters are far higher quality than Crooked Joe or Lyin' Kamala," Trump said. "My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: you can't lead America if you don't love Americans."
Biden himself posted a clarification on Tuesday night, saying that his comment was about the comedian who made the joke and "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 comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation," Biden said in the post on X.
At her daily briefing, reporters pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Biden's comments.
"No, he does not view Trump supporters or anybody who supports Trump as garbage," Jean-Pierre insisted.
"The president has said this for more than three years now, he has said multiple times that he is a president for all. It doesn't matter if you live in a red state, it doesn't matter if you live in a blue state."
When asked whether Biden misspoke or regrets his remarks, Jean-Pierre answered the president "clarified what he said" to ensure it was not "taken out of context."
"He took the extra step to clarify. And, you know, you don't see that from many elected officials, you certainly didn't see that from the former president. And this president wanted to make sure it was not taken out of context," Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre said the president spoke to Harris Tuesday night after her speech to congratulate her. She wouldn't say, though, if Biden had apologized or made any reference to his comment when they spoke.
For her part, Harris tried to distance herself from the comments.In an interview with ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce,Harris was asked how she felt when she heard his "garbage" remark.
"Well, first of all, I think that the president has explained what he meant," Harris told Bruce. "But I said it earlier, I strongly disagree with any criticism of the people based on who they vote for and I've made that clear throughout my career, including my speech last night before I think this all happened, which is I intend to be president for all Americans, and including those who may not vote for me in this election."
But this incident isn't the first time the White House and Harris' campaign has had to play clean up after a Biden gaffe raised eyebrows. Just last week Biden was talking about Trump and said, "We gotta lock him up. Politically lock him up."
The comments also come as Biden is planning to travel to battleground Pennsylvania twice later this week – for campaign and official events. Jean-Pierre said that for now there are now plans to adjust his schedule.
