Washington
CNN
—

Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday distanced herself from President Joe Biden’s comments that appeared to call Donald Trump’s supporters “trash,” setting off a political firestorm a week before Election Day.

Harris told reporters that she was “strongly” opposed to criticizing people based on their vote. Asked if she had spoken to the president about his comments, Harris said Biden called her Tuesday night but the president’s comments “did not come up.”

“Listen, I think, first of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I completely disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. You heard my speech last night and constantly throughout my career. I believe my work is about representing all people, whether they support me or not,” Harris said on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.

The vice president also reiterated what she said on the ground, including saying that if elected she would “represent all Americans.”

“I mean it: If elected president of the United States, I will represent all Americans, including those who do not vote for me, and respond to their needs and desires,” Harris said.

The president accidentally found himself in the home stretch of the campaign on Tuesday night when he tried to criticize Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend. Biden mentioned Puerto Rico, which was called a “floating island of trash” by a comedian at Trump’s event Sunday night.

“And recently a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico ‘a floating island of trash.’ Well, let me tell you something… I don’t know the Puerto Rican that I know… or Puerto Rico, where I am – in my home state of Delaware – they are good, decent, honorable people,” Biden said during the virtual event Remarks in a Voto Latino call to vote meant to help Harris.

“The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said, pausing for a moment before continuing. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American.”

Biden tried to explain his comments on Tuesday evening.

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

When CNN asked for an explanation about the president’s comments, a White House spokesman insisted that Biden had meant “supporter” and not “supporter,” arguing that he had actually said the following: “The only garbage I “I see floating out there is that of his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is incomprehensible and un-American.”

“The president called the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally trash,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.

Harris’ campaign quickly sought to publicly defend or explain these comments. But privately, both on and off the campaign trail, many Democrats were quietly simmering with frustration and concern over the president’s comments.

Senior campaign officials sent frantic messages from supporters – some of whom suggested that perhaps the president should find a way to disappear from the public eye entirely in the final six days before Election Day, sources said.

“Yesterday’s Biden gaffe is just so annoying,” said one former administration official. “Nobody wants him out there.”

Biden’s comments have undeniably become an unwelcome distraction. Trump and his allies quickly attacked her, accusing Harris and her broader campaign of looking down on Americans who support the former president.

Democrats are making it clear that Biden is not the presidential candidate, and Harris has made it clear that she has respect for all voters, regardless of whether they support her. They have also pointed out what they see as double standards, given Trump’s long history of racist, misogynistic and offensive comments.

“We won’t lose a single voter because of this,” a campaign adviser said, dismissing the significance of Biden’s comments.

As CNN reported, there was growing concern among Harris campaign aides about Biden’s propensity for gaffes at a time when the campaign is reluctant to take unnecessary political risks. Biden’s “garbage” comments on Tuesday evening ultimately only confirmed the existing concerns of many Democrats.

Earlier Wednesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ vice presidential running mate, said in an interview with CBS News that Biden’s comments were a response to “frustration over Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric” and rejected the argument that they undermine a central message the Harris Campaign to Unify the Country.

“I think there is – the frustration that we’ve seen since January 6th, the frustration with Donald Trump’s rhetoric of division, it inflames passions, and I think… President Biden has made it very clear that he’s talking about the rhetoric “We heard back then.” So it doesn’t undermine it,” Walz said.

In an interview with ABC News, Walz said Harris’ comments Tuesday in Washington, D.C. should be the message voters should focus on, pointing out that Harris is not the candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket Biden.

“The president has clarified his comments, but let us be clear. The Vice President and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone to be a part of this. Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric must end. He called this a garbage country and continued about the ‘enemy within,'” he said. “What you’ve heard from Vice President Harris and what I’m saying is that there’s a place here for all of us, and I think this is the right one – she’s running for president, she’s getting the message across, and she’s having that speech “held on the ellipse” has shown what we can be as a country.”