One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and in the final week of the presidential election, President Joe Biden’s “garbage” gaffe is shaping up to be a gift to former President Donald Trump.
A day after Biden seemingly referred to supporters of the Republican nominee as “garbage,” Trump sought to capitalize on the outrage, while Vice President Kamala Harris has distanced herself from the comment.
“They treat you like garbage. They treat our whole country like garbage,” Trump said at a rally on Wednesday night in Green Bay, wearing a bright orange safety vest. He was picked up from the airport in a garbage truck on his way to the rally. “How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump asked reporters. “This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Biden’s remark came during a Latino outreach call, captured on video, intended to bolster Harris’ candidacy. In response to a comedian’s derogatory joke about Puerto Rico—calling the U.S. territory a “floating island of garbage”—during Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Biden attempted to defend the Puerto Rican community but ended up creating a political headache. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said, further criticizing Trump’s treatment of Latinos as “unconscionable” and “un-American.”
Immediately after Biden’s comments, the White House rushed to clarify that the President did not mean to label Trump’s supporters as “garbage.” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said that Biden was referring to the “hateful rhetoric” of Trump’s rally rather than his supporters directly. An official transcript placed a silent apostrophe in “supporter’s.” Biden himself took to social media to reiterate his stance, asserting that the derogatory comments made about Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally do not represent the nation’s values.
However, the damage may already have been done. Trump and his allies quickly seized the opportunity to frame Biden’s imprecise words as emblematic of a broader disdain for working-class Americans. “Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon at a rally in Raleigh, N.C. Trump contrasted Biden’s remarks with what he claimed to be the quality of his supporters: “You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans.”
In Green Bay, Trump acknowledged that his campaign is strategically turning Biden’s remark into a rallying cry: “One of my people came in and said, ‘Sir, you know the word garbage is the hottest thing right now. The hottest thing out there. Sir, would you like to drive a garbage truck?’”
Throughout the day, Trump and his surrogates continued to amplify the narrative surrounding Biden’s comments. Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre, a longtime supporter of Trump and Green Bay Packers hall of famer, addressed Biden’s comment at the Green Bay rally. “I can assure you we’re not garbage,” Favre said. “How dare he say that? Looking out, I see police officers, teachers, nurses, grandparents, students. I see everyday Americans that make this country great.”
Other Trump allies, including Florida Rep. Byron Donalds and former Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, linked Biden’s “garbage” comment to Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” remark during her failed 2016 bid for president.
“Barack Obama once upon a time called us bitter clingers, Hillary Clinton has called us deplorables, Kamala Harris refers to us as fascists, and Joe Biden called us garbage,” Donalds said at the Green Bay rally. “But we’re none of those things; we’re red-blooded Americans and we’re taking America back.”
The incident provides a stark reminder of the political perils that Biden’s comments can have, especially in a campaign environment that has been as fraught and closely contested as this one. Biden’s gaffe also revives questions about his role in the campaign. Although he has appeared sporadically alongside Harris, his comments have increasingly drawn criticism from within her campaign, Axios and CNN both reported earlier this week even before the “garbage” incident, adding that the Harris campaign had rebuffed offers from the incumbent President to more actively campaign for her in the final stretch.
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Just as Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables” comment haunted her campaign, Biden’s language could undermine Harris’ efforts to project a unifying image in the final stretch of the race. Harris, recognizing the potential fallout, addressed the controversy to reporters on Wednesday morning, emphasizing her commitment to represent all Americans, including those who may disagree with her politically. “Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she stated, attempting to realign the narrative away from Biden’s unforced error.
Despite these efforts, the incident has provided the Trump campaign with fresh ammunition in the crucial final stretch. A fundraising email from Trump’s campaign leveraged Biden’s remarks, asserting that Democrats have a history of demeaning Trump’s supporters. “FIRST Hillary called you a DEPLORABLE! THEN they called you a FASCIST! And moments ago Kamala’s boss Biden called you GARBAGE!” it read.
Democrats, however, have pointed out that Trump on multiple occasions this month alone has called his own political opponents “the enemy from within” and has previously used similar rhetoric to describe Democrats. “It’s the people that surround her, they’re scum and they want to take down our country,” Trump said of Harris and her allies at a Sept. 7 rally in Mosinee, Wisc. “They are absolute garbage.”
Still, political analysts note that Biden’s misstep arrives at a precarious moment for the Harris campaign. With less than a week until Election Day, any miscalculation—especially one involving language perceived as contemptuous—can have far-reaching consequences. The stakes are particularly high in battleground states where voter sentiment can shift dramatically based on a few choice words.
“It’s going to be huge because this is not some comedian saying something stupid and offensive at a rally,” Republican pollster Frank Luntz told CNN on Wednesday. “I can promise you that this is going to drive Trump turnout. … This may be a turning point for those final 3%—and that’s all it is—who still need to be persuaded.”
Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have both warned Democrats about the dangers of dismissive language toward Trump supporters. Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Clinton urged the party to meet voters “where they are,” while Obama cautioned that a lack of mutual respect could lead to voter disillusionment.
Whether Biden’s remarks will significantly affect the election outcome remains uncertain. But in a deadlocked race, every word counts. As Harris seeks to present herself as a leader who can bridge divides, she now faces the burden of explaining Biden’s comments while maintaining her vision for an inclusive America.
“They have called us racist, bigots, fascists, deplorables, irredeemables, Nazis, and they called me Hitler,” Trump said in Green Bay. “They bullied you, they’ve demonized us, they’ve censored us, they’ve de-platformed us, and they weaponized the power of our own government against all of us. … This Tuesday is your chance to stand up and declare you are not going to take it anymore.”
