Joe Biden Backtracks His 'Garbage' Comments After Getting Blasted by Donald Trump Supporters in Campaign's Final Days

President Joe Biden has caused a lot of headaches for Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign after calling Donald Trump supporters "garbage."

The commander-in-chief tried to clarify his comments during a video call with non-profit organization Voto Latino, stating: "Earlier today, I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage."

"It was the only word I can think of to describe it," he explained. "His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation."

Biden was responding to stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe, who stirred up controversy during a routine at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, October 27, by referring to Puerto Rico as an "island of garbage."

Biden was initially quoted responding to Hinchcliffe's comments, saying, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters."

The White House later released a transcript which read: "The only garbage I see floating out there is [Trump's] supporter’s… his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American."

At the top of Wednesday's briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "Just to clarify, he was not calling Trump supporters garbage... He does not view Trump supporters or anybody who supports Trump as garbage."

Vice President Harris put some distance between herself and the president several times, telling reporters on the tarmac next to Air Force 2, "Listen, I think, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for."

Trump supporters have taken Biden's comments and compared them to a controversial remark Hillary Clinton made during the 2016 election, where she said half of the Republican nominee's supporters were from a "basket of deplorables."

At his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump said the president's words were "worse" than what Clinton said.

"You know what's worse than anything? Garbage, We're garbage," he told a crowd of his fans, going on to praise them as the "heart and soul of America."

Several vocal Trump supporters have flooded social media to try and capitalize on the hate comments and use them to target the Harris' campaign days before the 2024 presidential election.

Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, took to X and wrote: "A mother mourning her son who died of a fentanyl overdose is not garbage. A truck driver who can't afford rising diesel prices is not garbage. A father who wants to afford groceries is not garbage. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden ought to be ashamed of themselves."

Another X user commented: "Obama called us clingers. Hillary called us deplorables. Kamala calls us fascists. And Biden just called us garbage. They don’t respect us & don’t want unity."

One person simply wrote: "November 5 can't come fast enough."