GOP calls foul on Biden's "garbage" jab despite defending Trump rally

Catch up quick: During a video call with progressive group Voto Latino, Biden responded to Trump rally speaker Tony Hinchcliffe's jab that Puerto Rico is a "floating island of garbage."

• "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American," Biden said.
• GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) slammed Biden's comment as "disgusting," writing on X, "Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country."
• Other Republicans pointed to Vice President Harris' belief that Trump is a fascist — something the GOP nominee has also said about her — and drew comparisons to Hillary Clinton's 2016 "deplorables" comment.

What they're saying: "Obama called us clingers. Hillary called us deplorables. Kamala calls us fascists. And Biden just called us garbage," wrote Trump ally Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote on X, where he appears to have changed his profile picture to a flag-adorned patriotic trash can, "Biden only said out loud what every top Democrat actually believes about anyone who votes for Trump."

Yes, but: Days earlier, Vance brushed off the series of racist jokes at his running mate's New York rally, saying Americans "have to stop getting so offended at every little thing,"

• While Rubio wrote on X Monday that "Puerto Rico isn't garbage" and that he understood "why some people were offended," he emphasized, "Those weren't Trump's words. They were jokes by an insult comic who offends virtually everyone, all the time….. because that is what insult comedians do.
• Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) slammed Biden's comment, writing on social media, "I've met with many of my constituents who are Democrats, Libertarians, NPA, and Independents. I would NEVER call them garbage."
• But days before, she wrote that Democrats are "more offended at a comedian making a bad joke about Puerto Rico" than Harris' and Walz's records on immigration.

Zoom in: Biden responded to the backlash over his "garbage" comment online, writing on X, "Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage — which is the only word I can think of to describe it."

• He continued: "His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That's all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation."
• Harris told reporters Wednesday that Biden "clarified his comments" but said, "I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for."

State of play: Trump and his allies' closing message has often descended into pointed, personal attacks at Harris and others even though Trump called Sunday's rally a "love fest."

• However, the Trump campaign said in a statement that Hinchcliffe's joke about Puerto Rico "does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign."
• In addition to his comments about Puerto Rico, Hinchcliffe, also known as "Kill Tony," made racist jokes about Black people, Palestinians, Jews and Latinos broadly at Trump's New York rally.

Zoom out: Democrats have sought to frame the rally rhetoric as keeping in line with Trump's commonly inflammatory language.

• An ad from Elon Musk's pro-Trump super PAC repeatedly labeling Harris and other Democrats as the "c-word" (in this case, "communist") and other controversies have further played into campaign rhetoric.

Go deeper: Trump keeps calling Venezuelan and Congolese migrants criminals