By The Opinion
30 Oct 2024, 01:46 AM EDT
The president Joe Bidenspeaking in defense of Puerto Ricowhich a comedian called a “floating island of trash” at a Donald Trump rally in New York, noted that the only trash he sees is “his followers.”
Biden’s comment occurred on a video call with the progressive group Voto Latino when Biden made a comment about a comedian who called Puerto Rico a “garbage island” at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.
Biden said that Trump “doesn’t care at all about the Latino community.”
“He is a failed businessman. He only cares about the billionaire friends he had and for whom he accumulated wealth. And he says that immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country,” the president said.
He continued: “Just the other day, a speaker at your rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Well, let me tell you something, they are good, decent, honorable people,” Biden said, referring to the Puerto Rican community.
“The only trash I see floating around are his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unacceptable and un-American. “It is totally contrary to everything we have done,” he said.
As the political fallout intensified by the minute, Biden posted on X: “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico that the Trump supporter uttered at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage, which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. “That’s all I wanted to say.”
In addition to Trump, Senator Marco Rubio, whom the president has invited to several rallies to attract the Hispanic vote, also criticized Biden tonight.
“I hope his campaign is about to apologize for what he just said. We are not trash, we are patriots who love the United States,” Rubio concluded during the rally in Allentown.
Rubio, who represents Florida, is of Cuban origin; His parents emigrated to the US in 1956 and he was born in Miami.
More than 5 million people who identify as Puerto Rican live in the United States, including significant populations in the hotly contested states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin.
Keep reading:
• Trump courts the Latino vote in Pennsylvania with emphasis on Puerto Rico
• Bad Bunny reacts to the attack on Puerto Rico and launches a shocking message of Puerto Rican pride
• How a “racist” joke about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally could impact the November 5 election