Donald Trump pulls off campaign stunt in response to Joe Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments
Donald Trump has immediately responded to a comment from Joe Biden that threatened to derail Kamala Harris’ campaign at the eleventh hour.
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IN THE US
Joe Biden’s whopping gaffe yesterday, in which he labelled supporters of Donald Trump “garbage”, has derailed Kamala Harris’s closing argument a week out from the US election and could prove to be a critical “turning point”.
That is the assessment of Republican pollster Frank Luntz, a frequent presence as an analyst on American TV who is best known for running focus groups with undecided voters.
“It’s going to be huge, because this is not some comedian saying something stupid and offensive at a rally where he should have been just basically disinvited,” Mr Luntz told CNN, alluding to stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe’s sour joke about Puerto Rico at Mr Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally earlier in the week.
“This is the president of the United States, endorsing his Vice President, saying something – and I know that there’s different interpretations about what he said – it’s still inappropriate. He still shouldn’t be doing it.
“And I’ve watched Trump already seize on this. The ‘basket of deplorables’ was significant, was meaningful in 2016. In 2024, I can promise you that this is going to drive Trump turnout. And he’s doing it already.
“I’m sure there’s going to be ads on as soon as tonight about this.
“This may be a turning point for those final 3 per cent, and that’s all it is, who still need to be persuaded.”
Mr Trump pounced on the opportunity on Wednesday, turning up to a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin by a Trump branded garbage truck flying an American flag.
He then gave his entire speech decked out in garbageman attire.
“How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump asked reporters. “This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
During the 2016 campaign, Mr Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton referred to some of his supporters as “deplorables”. The remark haunted her right up until election day.
“Donald Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community,” Mr Biden said during the offending event yesterday, a video call with an organisation that drives Latino turnout.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage’.
“They’re good, decent, honourable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.
“His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Schwarzenegger endorses Harris
Meanwhile a movie legend and former Republican governor has made a surprise announcement, declaring who he will vote for in the election.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday US time that he doesn’t “really do endorsements”, but that Donald Trump “makes me furious” – leading him to vote for Kamala Harris.
The Terminator star’s intervention comes as the Democratic candidate attempts to move on from Joe Biden’s gaffe where he appeared to call Trump voters “garbage”.
“I strongly disagree”, Ms Harris said.
The Republicans have attempted to damage the Democrats with Mr Biden’s remarks which they have compared to Hillary Clinton’s infamous “deplorables” slight on Trump supporters.
Some Democrats have also piled onto Mr Biden, with one politician his remarks “inappropriate”, as the party attempts to put space between the president and vice-president.
‘Makes me furious’
On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger pinned his political colours to the mast.
The former Republican Governor of California said he would be voting for Ms Harris, the Democratic candidate. The Austrian born star called Mr Trump “un-American”.
“I will always be an American before I am a Republican,” Schwarzenegger wrote on social media.
“That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
The Total Recall star has long criticised Mr Trump. Nonetheless, it’s still rare for such a senior former Republican to abandon the party’s presidential nominee.
Schwarzenegger was the popular Governor of the US’ biggest state from 2003 to 2011.
“Policy … requires working with the other side, not insulting them to win your next election,” Schwarzenegger wrote.
“Rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets,” he added.
“To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious.
“[Trump] will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger”.
Garbage gaffe
Also on Wednesday, Ms Harris tried to do damage control after her boss’s apparent off the cuff comments about Donald Trump.
The “garbage” remark overshadowed Ms Harris’s final key note speech of the campaign and could harm her hopes of getting to the White House with just a week to go until poling day.
On Tuesday night, US time, Ms Harris made her final speech of her short campaign on The Ellipse, a park in front of the White House. The location was very deliberate. She warned of the dangers of a future President Trump at the exact spot where he spoke to his supporters on January 6 2021 just before the Capitol Building was ransacked.
She urged Americans to vote for a “new generation of leadership”, while calling Mr Trump a “petty tyrant”.
But that was drowned out by comments Mr Biden made on a zoom call at the same time with VotoLatino, a non-profit organisation that encourages young Hispanic Americans to vote.
Supporters or supporter’s?
The White House scrambled to clarify that, no, Mr Biden did not mean all those who supported Mr Trump were “garbage”. He meant “supporter’s,” his staff claimed, as in simply one person – Hinchcliffe – who made the original “garbage” comment.
Mr Biden himself also put out a tweet saying the comment was directed only at “Trump’s supporter” Hinchcliffe.
“That’s all I meant to say,” he insisted.
Harris: ‘I strongly disagree’
On Wednesday morning, US time, Ms Harris spoke to reporters about Mr Biden’s comments before she boarded Air Force Two.
“First of all, he clarified his comments,” she said.
“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.”
The Democrats will be hoping the swift denials from Mr Biden and Ms Harris’ comments will put a lid on the furore. After all, Mr Biden isn’t up for re-election.
Republicans revel in comments
But there’s no doubt, the “garbage” comments have been a gift for the Republicans who, themselves, had spent days reeling from Hinchcliffe’s original swipe at Puerto Rico.
Donald Trump told a rally crowd in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that Mr Biden’s “garbage” comment was worse than Hillary Clinton’s “deplorable” remark which became a rallying cry for Mr Trump’s supporters and may have harmed her electoral chances.
On Wednesday, he tried to tie Ms Harris to Mr Biden’s comments.
“Joe Biden calls our supporters ‘garbage,’” he wrote on social media
“You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American people. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have shown they are both unfit to be President of the United States.”
A number of senior Democrats have also criticised Mr Biden’s comments.
Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin told WWJ Newsradio: “He shouldn’t have said it. I mean, it’s inappropriate. And, for me, I just think that kind of talk is the last thing we need in our politics.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was touted as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris, said Mr Biden’s comments were “certainly not words that I would choose”.
“I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn’t support,” he told CNN.
“I think it’s important that we remain focused on the contrast between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump”.
Originally published as Donald Trump pulls off campaign stunt in response to Joe Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments
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