President Joe Biden’s campaign has cancelled scheduled phone calls amidst ongoing controversy over his recent “garbage” remark about Trump supporters.
The comment, made during a call with Voto Latino, has sparked outrage and led to adjustments in Biden’s campaign activities.
The development comes as the Biden campaign grapples with the fallout from the president’s controversial statement and its impact on his re-election efforts.
Biden’s controversial remark came during a call with Voto Latino, where he referred to Trump supporters as “garbage” in response to a comedian’s joke about Puerto Rico.
Joe Biden is claimed to have been banned from any more campaign phone calls ahead of Tuesday
REUTERS
The White House quickly moved to alter the official transcript, adding an apostrophe to “supporter’s” to suggest Biden was referring only to the comedian’s comment.
The president later claimed he was solely addressing the joke, not Trump’s supporters in general.
However, the incident has sparked significant backlash and forced the Biden campaign to adjust its strategy.
The Trump campaign swiftly capitalised on Biden’s comment.
At a Wisconsin rally the following day, the former president arrived with a garbage truck and donned a garbageman’s vest in response to the criticism.
Trump addressed his supporters, saying: “Kamala [Harris] and Joe [Biden] call us garbage.
“I call you the heart and soul of America.”
The controversy follows a pattern of contentious statements by Biden that have required clarification or backtracking from his team.
Earlier this month, Biden appeared to call for Trump’s imprisonment at a campaign event in New Hampshire.
He said: “If I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up. We gotta lock him up.”
Biden quickly backtracked, clarifying: “Politically, lock him up — lock him out, that’s what we’ve got to do.”