Outgoing President Joe Biden isn’t often used as a surrogate for the Kamala Harris campaign, and on Tuesday night he reminded voters why.

“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico ‘a floating island of garbage’ … Well, let me tell you something. … The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said during a campaign event for Voto Latino.

Trump found out about the comments during a rally in Allentown and didn’t waste time responding.

“You have, remember Hillary, she said ‘deplorable,’ and then she said ‘irredeemable,’ right?” Trump told the Pennsylania crowd. “But she said ‘deplorable,’ and that didn’t work out. ‘Garbage,’ I think, is worse, right?”

It’s the second time in a week Biden gave Harris and Democrats an unexpected and unwanted headache in an election that’s expected to be decided by a razor-thin margin in Pennsylvania. Last week in New Hampshire Biden said, “We gotta lock [Trump] up.”

Pennsylvania Republicans quickly called out the president’s comments and Kamala Harris’s initial silence.

“It shows, once again, what elitist Democrats think about the rest of us,” GOP strategist Charlie Gerow told DVJournal.

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who trails three-term Democrat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. by one-to-two points in the polls, promptly released a video tying Biden’s comments to Casey.

 

McCormick added the comment is “the kind of rhetoric that leads to hate and violence” and unacceptable from the White House. Trump has been targeted by assassins at least twice, including once in Butler County, Pa. where a bullet grazed his ear.

Other Republicans compared it to the “basketful of deplorables” quote from Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“It is sad, however, that our nation’s commander-in-chief truly believes half of America is garbage,” Vince Galko of Mercury told DVJournal.

Pennsylvania Republican Party National Committeeman Andy Reilly found Biden’s statement disrespectful towards Americans. He told DVJournal it a prime example of the elitist attitude held by Biden and Harris.

“How can you be a leader in this country when you really disrespect and think half the citizens are garbage?” he rhetorically asked.

Even Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro found Biden’s comments inappropriate.

“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,” Shapiro told CNN.

More than 12 hours, Harris defended Biden.

“He clarified his comments,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

Harris added she “strongly disagreed with any criticism of people” based on their preferred political candidate.

Biden’s “garbage” statement was days after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden. Hinchcliffe later said people had “no sense of humor.”

Not every Republican is convinced the controversy will make a difference on Election Day.

“I don’t see his gaffe, or that comedian’s intentional insult joke, as moving the needle,” Chris Nicholas of Eagle Consulting texted DVJournal.

When asked why it was a topic on social media and cable news, Nicholas quipped, “It’s something new to talk about.”

Bucks County GOP Chair Pat Poprik disagreed. “They called us deplorables in 2016, and garbage in 2024, but I will be happy to call us winners on Election Night,” she told DVJournal.

There are some who believe Biden’s comment is indicative of the state of American politics.

“Its’ what almost every Democrat-elected official actually believes,” said journalist Mark Halperin Wednesday.

Biden will campaign for Harris in Philadelphia on Friday.

While most analysts have suggested Biden’s “garbage” comment was another sign of incompetence, Galko wondered if he did it on purpose because of anger about being replaced by Harris on the Democratic ticket.

“You could make a strong argument for either scenario,” he said.

The RealClearPolitics polling average gives Trump a less than a point lead over Harris in Pennsylvania.