Biden’s “rubbish” comment is being criticized by some Democrats

WASHINGTON — Several congressional Democrats running in close 2024 races became the latest members of President Joe Biden’s party to criticize Wednesday his “garbage” remark. about Donald Trump supporters.

Elissa Slotkin, Democratic Senate candidate running inside Michigan and Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio all disagreed with the comments of the sitting President of the United States.

“As for what President Biden said yesterday, he shouldn’t have said it. I mean, it’s inappropriate. And to me, I think that kind of discussion is the last thing we need in our politics,” Slotkin said. WWJ Newsradioa local radio station in Michigan.

Slotkin argued that most Michiganders want Democrats and Republicans to debate their issues “in a civil and reasonable way and not, you know, name calling.”

“So I just didn’t like that, I thought it was pointless, but that’s why I think we’re all ready for this election to be over,” she added.

Rep. Jared Golden, who is running for a fourth term in Maine, and Rep. Don Davis, who is running for re-election in North Carolina, also raised questions about Biden’s remarks.

Writing on X, Golden shared, “Any elected official or candidate who calls Americans or America ‘garbage’ is flat out wrong. We don’t need leaders to add fuel to the partisan fires that divide us.”

“Americans are bound together as citizens of our great country,” Golden added in a follow-up tweet. “What we need most is to work together towards common goals and overcome common challenges for the good of our communities and our country.”

Davis wrote on X that “We need to lower the temperature on all fronts and reject referring to individuals or communities as ‘trash’.” The campaigns of Baldwin, Tester and Brown each told USA TODAY that their respective senators disagreed with Biden’s comment.

Golden represents a large rural district that encompasses central and northern Maine. His race against Republican challenger Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, is considered a showdown, fittingly Cook Political Report. Davis is running against Republican Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s new 1st District, also considered a toss-up.

Slotkin, a three-term U.S. congresswoman, is running against Republican Mike Rogers for the Senate seat vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Numerous polls show Slotkin leading by a few percentage points against Rogers.

And the races of Brown, Baldwin and Tester could determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the Senate next year. Brown faces businessman Bernie Moreno, Baldwin faces entrepreneur Eric Hovde, and Tester battles veteran and businessman Tim Sheehy for the seat.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro they also tried to distance themselves from Biden’s remarks just days before Election Day on November 5.

Biden’s comments came after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe said Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage” during Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. During a Zoom call with a nonprofit, the president said the only “trash” he saw “floating out there’ were ‘his supporter’s’, although it was unclear at the time whether he meant Hinchcliffe or all Trump supporters. Many Republicans interpreted it as the latter.

Biden later posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he “referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by the Trump supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as trash.”

Shapiro CNN said Tuesday night that he would “never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any American, even if he chose to support a candidate that I did not support.” Harris Wednesday he said that while the president clarified her remarks, she strongly disagrees with criticizing anyone “based on who they vote for.”

Contributing: Rebecca Morin and Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY