US president Joe Biden has sparked a backlash after appearing to call Donald Trump supporters “garbage” a week from polling day.
Reacting to a comic at a Trump rally last weekend in New York calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” Mr Biden told a call organised by Hispanic activists: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
Mr Biden added Puerto Ricans were “good, decent, honourable people,” saying: “His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American.
“It's totally contrary to everything we've done, everything we've been."
Republicans vented their anger at the characterisation, with the remarks threatening to be a headache in the final week of the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign for the White House.
Republican candidate Donald Trump called up Florida Senator Marco Rubio during his rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to recount what happened, who labelled it an insult to ordinary Americans.
"Moments ago Joe Biden stated that our supporters, our patriots, are garbage," Mr Rubio said. "He's talking about everyday Americans who love their country."
The Trump campaign said in a statement that it was proof that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris “hate” their opponent and “despise” the tens of millions of voters who support him.
But Mr Biden sought to clarify his remarks, saying in a post on social media site X that he was referring to the comment that Puerto Rico was “garbage”, and not to Republican supporters at large.
“The comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation,” he said.
Several leading Democrats have sought to distance themselves from Mr Biden’s tone, with Ms Harris stressing a message of unity in a Washington DC rally on Tuesday night.
"I pledge to be a president for all Americans," she told the rally.
Meanwhile, speaking on CNN, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he would "never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn't support."
The comments echoed then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's dismissal of Trump supporters during a 2016 fundraiser in New York as a "basket of deplorables."
Clinton later called that characterization "grossly generalistic." But it became a defiant rallying cry for many Trump backers who said the insult encapsulated the elitist attitudes of Clinton and the Democrats.
Asked in an interview Tuesday night with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity about the racist and vulgar joke at his New York rally, Trump sought to downplay the furore.
He said: “Somebody said there was a comedian that joked about Puerto Rico or something. And I have no idea who he is."
The former president added: "I can't imagine it's a big deal."
