WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden took a swipe at it Donald Trump’s Supporters as he responded to the Republican presidential nominee’s votes Weekend rally at Madison Square Garden, which was marred by crude and racist rhetoric.

In a call organized by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden responded on Tuesday a comic at Trump’s rally, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.” Biden’s initial comments were garbled.

“The other day a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of trash. Well, let me tell you something: I don’t know, I don’t know the Puerto Rican that I know, the Puerto Rico that I live in – my home state of Delaware. “They are good, decent and honorable people,” he said.

The president then added, “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters.” His demonization of Latinos is incomprehensible and un-American. It’s a complete contradiction to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden “called the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally ‘garbage.’

Biden then took to social media to personally clarify what he had said.

“Today I called the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico expressed by Trump supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as trash – that’s the only word I can think of to describe it,” he wrote on X. ” His demonization of Latinos is incomprehensible. That’s all I wanted to say. The comments at this rally do not reflect who we are as a nation.”

But when he called Trump’s supporters “trash,” Biden’s tone was at odds with the message Democratic nominee Kamala Harris wants to convey as she aims to make a broad appeal to dissatisfied Republicans. Shortly after Biden’s comments, Harris spoke from the Ellipse in Washington and vowed to be a president who would unite the country.

“I vow to be a president for all Americans,” said Harris, Biden’s vice president.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said the campaign’s message of unity would not be undermined by Biden’s words.

Walz said on “CBS Mornings” Wednesday that the president “has made it very clear that he’s talking about the rhetoric that we’ve heard, so it doesn’t undermine it.” Walz added on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” adding that he and Harris “have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone to be a part of this. Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric must end.”

Republicans were quick to highlight Biden’s remark. Trump summoned the Florida senator. Marco Rubio during his rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to recount what happened.

“Just moments ago, Joe Biden declared that our supporters, our patriots, are trash,” Rubio said. “He talks about everyday Americans who love their country.”

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a subsequent statement: “There is no way to twist it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris not only hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him.”

A donation text for the Trump campaign reads: “KAMALA’S BOSS JOE BIDEN JUST CALLED ALL MY SUPPORTERS GARBAGE!” before assuring recipients that Trump himself thinks: “THEY ARE AWESOME!”

Even some prominent Democrats began distancing themselves from Biden’s comments. The governor of Pennsylvania speaks on CNN. Josh Shapiro said he would “never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any American, even if they chose to support a candidate I did not support.”

The comments were reminiscent of the then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton dismissive Trump supporters during a 2016 fundraiser in New York, saying that half would go to a ” Basket full of deplorables.”

Clinton later called this characterization “gross generalist.” But it became a defiant rallying cry for many Trump supporters, who said the insult embodied the elitism of Clinton and the Democrats.

As reactions to Biden’s response grew more heated, Trump was asked about the racist and vulgar joke at his rally in New York in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. He replied, “Someone said there was a comedian who made jokes about Puerto Rico or something. And I have no idea who he is.”

The former president added: “I can’t imagine that’s a big deal.”

At a rally Tuesday in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city with a large Hispanic population, Trump repeated his claim that Biden’s immigration policies have allowed other countries to treat the U.S. like “a giant garbage can.”

With only a week left from Election Day, Biden has been working on it Maintain relevancewhile Harris angrily touts his administration’s achievements in her race against Trump.

But his efforts to stay in the political spotlight may not always be so helpful to the leadership of the Democratic Party he is now running. Because while Harris has been sharply criticizing Trump for months, repeatedly calling him “unstable” and “unsettled” and even suggesting that he is ” fascist“She was careful not to denigrate his supporters.

In fact, the vice president campaigned extensively with the former Republican representative. Liz Cheney and other former GOP elected officials — hoping to attract conservative crossover voters. The Democratic convention — and Harris ads — highlighted the stories of everyday Americans who spoke of having voted for Trump in the past but now say they support the vice president.

On Tuesday’s call, Biden also said Trump “doesn’t give a damn about the Latino community” and urged a repudiation of the former president, even as Trump’s campaign says his support is increasing among Hispanics, particularly men.

“Vote to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” Biden said. “He is a real danger, not just to Latinos but to all people. Especially those who are in the minority in this country.”