Republicans’ latest entry on the eve of the 2024 campaign — President Joe Biden’s “garbage” comment Tuesday night — is more plausible than most as their hoped-for “deplorables” moment. But it’s still not nearly as ironclad as Clinton’s comments.
And Biden’s increasing tendency to stumble over his words, which marred these very comments, makes it entirely plausible that he didn’t intend to tar large numbers of Trump supporters — as he soon clarified that he hadn’t.
The controversy centers on jumbled comments Biden made on a call with Latino voters. Biden invoked comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s quip at a Trump rally Sunday labeling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” — comments that many Republicans and even the Trump campaign have distanced themselves from.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,’ ” Biden said, before his stumbles began.
“Well, let me tell you something,” Biden said. “I don’t — I — I — I don’t know the Puerto Rican that — that I know — or 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 — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
- “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters’ — his — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
- “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Hinchcliffe, whose set was intended to warm up the crowd, veered into what many described as offensive territory, quipping that Latinos “love making babies”, before likening their presence to an “invasion of the country”.
He then went on to say: “There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
So there may be more.
THE PRESIDENT: (In progress) — and your friendship. And thanks to everyone —
MS. TERESA: So, President —
THE PRESIDENT: — at Voto Latino. (Inaudible.)
MS.
TERESA: So, President Biden, before we get started — before we get
started, I just want to say, literally, three and a half years ago, we —
when we were hunkered down, we were doing Zoom calls very similar to
this, you came in and you talked to our community, and you said, “Maria
Teresa, we are going to have the largest climate change legislation, the
biggest infrastructure,” and you listed 20 things, and he’s like, “Will
you be there with me?” And I said, “Absolutely.” And I said, “Do you
think we’re going to get it done?” You’re like, “Absolutely.” And you
know what? You have.
So, I’m incredibly grateful for all the
work that you’ve done, and I would love for you to say a few words to —
to the community based on your ability to deliver every single time.
THE
PRESIDENT: We got it done. I didn’t get it done. Every major thing
we tried to do, from over a trillion dollars in infrastructure to work
on communities that need help to health care to — I mean, a whole range
of things, and we got it done.
As I said earlier, your
partnership, your friendship, and your leadership has really made a big
difference. And thank everyone at Latino — you know — excuse me, thank
everyone at your organization, Voto Latino, for all you do. You know,
you’ve always had my back, and I think it’s fair to say I’ve always had
yours.
This is it. This is it. Seven days to Election Day, and
the stakes couldn’t be higher. And that’s not a — that’s not an
exaggeration. The choice couldn’t be clearer.
Presidential
historians tell us the most important thing about a president is
character — does he or she have character. Kamala has character.
She’ll always stand up for Latinos, but not just Lati- — she’ll stand up
for everyone who deserves to be stood up for, and that’s all Americans.
Donald
Trump has no character. He doesn’t give a damn about the Latino
community. He’s failed businessman. He’s — he only cares about the
billionaire friends he has and accumulating wealth for those at the top.
You know, he says immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of our country. Give me a break. He wants to do away with the birthright citizenship. Who the hell else said that in the last 100 years?
And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a
“floating island of garbage.” Well, let me tell you something. 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 supporter’s — 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.
Now, Trump has di- — tried to divide
the country based on race, ethnicity, anything that does harm, to take
their eye off the ball about what the terrible things he’s done and will
do. But Kamala Harris has fought for all Americans and will be a
president for all of America.
Look, folks, we’ve gotten a lot
done together, as you pointed out. Look, Maria Teresa, we did
everything from the infrastructure bill to health care to making sure
that veterans are taken care of. I mean, across the board, we’ve done
so much. We’ve created over 16 million jobs. More Latinos have jobs
than ever before.
Look, a quarter of all — here’s the way I look
at it. A quarter of all the children in our schools today are Latino —
are Latino, a quarter of them. How could we possibly not invest
everything we have in a quarter of our population that’s going to be our
future? It’s going to make a major, major, major, major piece of what
this country looks like and what we think and what we believe. So,
these are going to have to be the doctors, the teachers, the scientists,
and, yes, presidents.
You know, I know we’ve asked a lot of
each other, but I’m talking to you about one more thing and asking you,
as a favor, all of you listening, to vote. Get out early and vote. Do
it early.
You know, I — I know the long waits on Election Day
are all too common, especially in Latino communities. You know, I cast
my ballot yesterday. I stood in line for 40, 45 minutes with all the
people in Delaware, and I cast my vote yesterday in my home state. I
waited in line with a lot of other people.
There was a woman
ahead of me, an elderly woman, who was in her 90s in a wheelchair, and
it was a heavy wheelchair and the person pushing it was having trouble,
so I spent time with her. She — she’s — she’s over 90 years old, and
she’s breaking her neck to vote because she knows how important it is.
Today
is National Vote Early Day. Let me say it again. Today is National
Vote Early Day. Remind folks to vote early, to return mail-in ballots.
Vote
for access to a good education so everyone has an opportunity. Vote to
eliminate not — what Trump wants — he wants to eliminate the Department
of Education and no early education. We’re fighting like hell, and
we’re fighting like hell for early education because, you know, it
increases exponentially the prospect of success for our sons and our
daughters.
Vote to give our daughters the same opportunities we give our sons, instead of taking away their rights.
Vote
to make sure we maintain a significant health care that would provide
for our parents and our families and basic health care for all
Americans. Trump is trying like hell to get rid of it. More people
have health care now than ever before. He says he’s going to — wants to
get rid of it.
Vote to continue the progress we made on job
growth — the growth in jobs for everyone, including Latinos — a
significant job growth.
Vote for comprehensive imm- — immigration reform instead of mass deportation. What’s he talkin- — think about it.
You
know, I travel the world because of my role as president and my
knowledge of foreign policy. I get inquiries from other heads of state,
“Does Trump really mean it? Are you really going to send out the
police to gather up thousands and millions of people and deport them?”
What the hell is going on here? Vote for comprehensive immigration
reform instead of mass deportation.
In short, vote to keep
Donald Trump out of the White House. He’s a true danger to not just
Latinos but to all people, particularly those who are in a minority in
this country.
You know, we have to vote to elect Kamala as
president, Tim Walz as vice president. It’s (inaudible) — it’s never
been more important.
We’ve known each other a long time, Maria
Teresa — a long time. And I want to tell you something I can say
without equivocation. Our democracy is at stake. And to translate that
into pure English — and that’s wh- — I should be able to speak Spanish,
but I can’t. We should be able to talk about what this means.
He
wants to fundamentally change the way our Constitution works. He wants
to take away people’s rights. He wants to concentrate power in the
hands of a very few — people like him.
So, go to IWillVote.com
and make your plan to vote early. Make it today, because voting early
(inaudible) now basically through election. Make a plan to vote,
please, please, please. Your vote is critical. A Latino vote is
critical. Let’s make it heard.
I want them to remember who you
are and who we are. We’re the United States of America. And there’s
nothing, nothing at all beyond our capacity when we do it together.
So,
God bless you all. And God bless you, Maria Teresa, for all you’ve
been doing. We have more to do, but we got to get it done.
This
el- — this election is the most consequential election we’ve ever voted
in, no matter how old or how young you are — this election.
God bless you all. And God protect our troops.
MS.
TERESA: Thank you so much, President Biden. And I have to tell you,
what you really — what you are saying is a clarion call. It’s a
multicultural democracy, and it’s us, as Americans first, that will save
this country and our democracy. And I’m so grateful for the time —
THE PRESIDENT: The reason why we’re strong.
MS. TERESA: — you’ve spent with us. (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: We’re the most diverse country, and that’s why we’re strong. That is our strength.
MS. TERESA: Right. (Laughs.)
THE PRESIDENT: (Inaudible) our weakness. It’s our strength.
MS.
TERESA: No, I call it our superpower — our superpower. And I always
say, like, you don’t have to take my word for it. The reason that you
have disinformation around race is because the Russians and the Chinese
recognize that racism is our Achilles heel, but it — they also recognize
that it’s our multiculturalism that is our superpower and our strength.
THE PRESIDENT: We bring all the best of every culture together. We really do. It’s not hyperbole. That’s a fact.
MS. TERESA: It’s true.
THE PRESIDENT: Sometimes I think our folks (inaudible) don’t realize it, but it’s truly a fact. Anyway.
God love you for what you’re doing. Keep it going, kid.
MS. TERESA: I’m super grateful.
THE PRESIDENT: Keep it going.
MS. TERESA: Yeah, we’re not done yet. We’re just getting started.
THE PRESIDENT: We’re not even close to done.
MS. TERESA: (Inaudible.) (Laughs.)
THE PRESIDENT: And I may be — I may be leaving office on January 20th, but I’m not leaving.
MS. TERESA: I — I —
THE PRESIDENT: I’m not leaving.
MS. TERESA: You promise?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m leaving office, but I’m not leaving this fight.
MS. TERESA: (Laughs.)
THE PRESIDENT: God love you. Thank you so much.
MS. TERESA: I’m going to remind you of that. Much love. Say hello to Jill.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you don’t (inaudible) — I’m going to ask for your help and let me join you.
MS. TERESA: I will always be there, President.
Wall Street economists are warning that Trump’s tax cuts and tariffs would add more to inflation than Harris’s proposals.
As reported here at MarketWatch just one day ago, Musk’s brutal budget-cutting math is way more severe than most Americans, including most MAGA fans, realize. Two-thirds of the entire federal budget already goes toward Social Security, Medicare, debt interest, defense, and veterans (Note that does NOT include Medicaid).
Everything else (including Medicaid) adds up to $2.35 trillion this year. So Musk’s promise to cut “at least $2 trillion” from the federal budget either means he is going to abolish pretty much everything else — Medicaid, Transportation, Justice, Homeland Security, Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and so on — or he is going to cut Social Security and Medicare.
For the record, this plan would match cuts implemented by Argentina's far-right, pro-Trump president, Javier Milei, who has developed a cult following in today’s GOP. And if that’s Musk’s model, Americans have a lot to fear.
Those policies have helped skyrocket Argentina’s poverty rate to over 50% in the first six months of Milei's presidency. The hardship Musk is predicting sounds quite hard, indeed. Between Trump repeatedly praising the Gilded Age and Musk priming everyday Americans for "hardship" if MAGA retakes the White House, it seems quite obvious that a vote for Trump is a vote for extreme wealth inequality and all the suffering that comes with it.
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