CBS anchor says Trump not giving 'grace' to Biden for calling his supporters 'garbage'
CBS News anchor Norah O'Donnell said former President Trump is offering President Biden "no grace" over his remark disparaging Trump supporters after the GOP nominee showed up to a campaign event in a garbage truck on Wednesday.
"Former President Donald Trump was in North Carolina earlier, and tonight, he is also in Wisconsin. He landed in Green Bay just a short time ago and then pulled this campaign stunt, speaking to reporters from a garbage truck, proof that he and his supporters are giving no grace to a gaffe by President Biden where he, in his explanation, inadvertently called Trump supporters garbage," O'Donnell said in the opening segment of "CBS Evening News."
Biden sparked backlash Tuesday night after he appeared to call former President Trump's supporters "garbage" during a virtual Harris campaign call with Voto Latino. He took a swipe at former President Trump's rally in Madison Square Garden, which made headlines after insult comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made jokes mocking different ethnic groups, with one joke referring to Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage."
"The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters," Biden said on the call. "His- his- his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it is un-American."
As Democrats in the media rushed to defend, dismiss or downplay the comment, Republicans have embraced it as the new line of attack against the Harris campaign with less than a week to the hotly contested election.
On Wednesday, Trump rolled up to the battleground state of Wisconsin in a garbage truck to answer questions from reporters, wearing an orange reflective vest with "Trump Make America Great Again 2024" emblazoned on the vehicle.
"How do you like my garbage truck?" he asked reporters. "This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden."
Biden's "garbage" comment quickly went viral and sparked swift condemnation from critics, but many journalists and news organizations rushed to clean up his mess. The White House, in a transcript of the speech, added an apostrophe to Biden’s remarks, making it appear that he said, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American." Biden himself claimed that he was referring specifically to the comedian at a Trump rally whose shot at Puerto Rico went viral over the weekend.
The Trump campaign quickly distanced itself from the joke after it was made. Trump told "Hannity" that he doesn't know the comedian and that his joke was not vetted by the campaign ahead of time.
Still, Democrats and media pundits have pounced on the soundbite, using it to pummel the Trump campaign for the "racist comment" and encourage Puerto Rican voters to support Harris.
On her show Monday, O'Donnell described the comment as "vile" before telling viewers, "Puerto Rico is an American island. Let me say that again. Puerto Ricans are American citizens…" She also showed interviews from Puerto Rican voters who said they believed the joke reflected how Trump felt about them.
Biden said he wanted to take Hinchcliffe 'for a swim' when asked about the comic’s controversial remarks earlier this week, but did not elaborate about what he meant.