A variety of media pundits and journalists rushed to defend, dismiss or downplay President Biden’s suggestion that former President Trump’s supporters are "garbage" as others call them out for it, creating a polarizing news cycle playing out on social media.
During a virtual Harris campaign call with Voto Latino, Biden took a swipe at Trump's rally in Madison Square Garden, which made headlines after insult comedian Tony Hinchiffe 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, before adding, "His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American."
The comment quickly went viral and sparked swift condemnation from critics, but many journalists and news organizations rushed to clean up Biden’s 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 debacle resulted in some media members defending Biden, with others pushing back and suggesting situations like this are why so many Americans don’t trust the press.
MSNBC host and Politico White House bureau chief Jonathan Lemire claimed the quote was being "taken out of context" and shared a transcript similar to the White House’s much-criticized version.
Republican strategist Matt Whitlock accused Lemire of "shameful gaslighting."
"Jonathan is flat out lying here and spreading a dishonest transcript. You can clearly hear Biden say ‘the only garbage I see out there is his supporters.. and .. and.. his demonization..’ They edited it to say ‘his supporters’ demonization,’" Whitlock responded.
Whitlock also posted the White House transcript compared to what he called the "actual" version.
NPR, ABC’s "Good Morning America" and MSNBC took the "Republicans pounce" approach to the story, with NPR publishing the headline, "Biden's 'garbage' remarks give Trump and GOP new fodder on the trail," after ignoring the story during its flagship morning show. Over on ABC, the story was teased as "Republicans are trying to seize on something President Biden said."
Lemire said on MSNBC that it’s a "story on the right," and said Republicans were "trying to paint" the comment as the next "basket of deplorables," referring to Hillary Clinton's famous jab at Trump supporters in 2016.
"Joe Biden obviously doesn’t believe that," MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said of the president’s comment.
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"The View," the ABC talk show whose hosts are all opposed to Trump, scoffed at Republicans taking exception to Biden's comments, saying Trump was guilty of saying worse remarks about his opponent's backers.
"I don't get why you're clutching your pearls, because you're trying to make something out of a tongue slip," co-host Whoopi Goldberg said. "Hillary called these folks deplorable? Yeah, OK."
Left-wing journalist John Harwood, a rabid supporter of the Biden White House who once covered the administration for CNN, complained "the phony outrage over Biden's comment is garbage," while fellow ex-CNN personality Chris Cillizza was scolded by far-left media personality Keith Olbermann for that take.
Cillizza called the White House’s explanation "laughable," but Olbermann didn’t agree.
"Oh, Chris, descending to whoring yourself and lying for Trump? Beneath even you," Olbermann responded on X.
Current CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston suggested Biden should embrace the comment instead of trying to make excuses.
The New York Times headline, "Biden appears to insult trump supporters as ‘garbage,’ but quickly tries to clarify," was also mocked by journalist Michael Shellenberger.
"The New York Times says Biden only ‘appeared’ to call Trump voters ‘garbage.’ That's disinformation. What Biden said is clear from the video. And now the White House has altered the official transcript in a potential violation of the Presidential Records Act," Shellenberger posted on X to accompany an image of the Times report.
Shellenberger also took issue with the Washington Post’s framing, as the paper’s report headlined, "White House, Trump campaign clash over whether Biden called Trump supporters ‘garbage,’" and declared the president simply "stumbled over" his words.
"WaPo calls ‘garbage’ reference ‘disputed,’ a joke about Puerto Rico's trash problem ‘racist remarks,’ and suggests the ‘garbage’ smear was part of his ‘record of verbal gaffes’ whereas ‘Trump has for years vilified his political opponents with vicious... attacks,’" Shellenberger wrote.
Another Washington Post analysis piece was headlined, "Did Biden call Trump supporters ‘garbage’? It comes down to an apostrophe." Writer Aaron Blake said Biden's explanation of his gaffe was "entirely plausible."
"If there’s a lesson in all of this, it’s that Democrats should probably be glad the guy who keeps stepping in it like this isn’t actually leading their ticket anymore," Blake admitted.
"It is one thing for media outlets to dismiss Biden's calling Trump supporters ‘garbage’ as an idiotic remark by a senile old man long prone to gaffes. But to pretend he didn't say it or to ignore it completely is another matter entirely -- an example of media corrupted by politics," Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume posted on Wednesday.
Fox News contributor Guy Benson also blasted the press over the entire ordeal.
"The ‘garbage’ contretemps is a perfect distillation of why media trust is catastrophically low. These people spent DAYS hyperventilating about a Trump rally pre-show warm-up act insult comic making bad jokes, particularly one about Puerto Rico being a garbage island. They turned it into the LEAD STORY in the country. They insisted it was important, was moving votes, was emblematic of their already-hot ‘Nazi/Fascist’ narrative," Benson wrote.
"Then the sitting President of the United States called the supporters of his party’s opposition ‘garbage’ — clear as day, on video — and the EXACT SAME ‘news’ ‘professionals’ immediately heel-turned into doctoring the quote, offering up excuses, explaining why it didn’t matter, or ignoring it entirely," he continued. It’s a laboratory pure instance of screaming, humiliating, self-discrediting bias, presented in a helpful and timely side-by-side."
