Cleaning Up the Mess

So President Biden pretty clearly called Trump's supporters "garbage" (see yesterday's post), whether he intended to or not, and the Democrats are scurrying about trying to clean up the mess he created.

Andrew Stiles and Thaleigha Rampersad at the Free Beacon describe the Democrats' efforts:

Doing what comes naturally, mainstream journalists and other partisan Democrats rushed to Biden's defense, denying reality out of fear that the hateful comment could damage Kamala Harris's campaign in the final days before the election.

The White House insisted—contrary to the available evidence—that Biden was referring to a single Trump supporter, Tony Hinchcliffe, the off-color comedian who described Puerto Rico as a "floating island of garbage" during a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend.

Axios reporter Alex Thompson asked the White House to clarify how it came to that conclusion, but he did not receive a response.

Stiles and Rampersad write that some in the media have blamed Biden's gaffe on his childhood stutter. Others have tried to convince us that Biden was describing the sort of thing Trumps' supporters said, not the supporters themselves.

Numerous media outlets actually faulted Republicans for "seizing on the gaffe" for political gain. Other commenters simply bit the bullet and acknowledged that our superannuated Chief Executive said it and ought to have the integrity to own it.

See the Free Beacon article for details and links to the above summary. For her part Ms. Harris dissociated herself from all criticism of people based upon whom they support:

Vice President Kamala Harris said she spoke with Biden on Tuesday night following her primetime address on the National Mall, where she denounced Trump as a "petty tyrant" whose election would incite "chaos and division."

Biden's "garbage" remark did not come up during the conversation, Harris told reporters on Wednesday. "First of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for," she said.

What's amusing about all this is that Democrats have accused Trump supporters of being racist, sexist, antisemitic fascists and Nazis, but now the Democrats are emphatically denying that the President labeled Trump supporters "garbage." And Kamala Harris who has herself called Trump a fascist, "a petty tyrant," and a "dictator" nevertheless "strongly disagrees" with criticizing people she believes are okay with Trump being a Nazi and who will do their best to see that he gets elected?

If you or your colleagues have called Trump - and, by extension, his supporters - all those other names why shrink from the accusation that the President has also called them garbage?