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Vice Presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) criticized Vice President Harris for disrespecting Americans moments before calling her “trash.”
The big picture: In an effort to cast the GOP ticket in a diverging light, Vance linked Harris to President Biden apparently calling the MAGA base “garbage” last week, criticizing the VP for “the complete disrespect, the condescension and even the hatred in the way that she talks about her fellow citizens.”
Zoom in: During a campaign rally in Atlanta on the eve of Election Day, Vance said took aim at Harris, saying, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have an American president who loved the people of this country rather than hated the people of this country?”
- He added: “I want to ask us not to follow Kamala Harris’ terrible example.”
- Vance asked rally-goers not to discard lifelong relationships “because people vote the wrong way,” saying, “Here in our movement, we love every citizen of this country. We want their prosperity because we love this nation, and that means loving the people who live here.”
- Less than a minute later, Vance said, “In two days, we are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and the trash’s name is Kamala Harris.”
Zoom out: Former President Trump has made insults against opponents a norm in his campaign rhetoric.
- Meanwhile, Vance dismissed Trump’s association with a comedian at the Republican presidential nominee’s Manhattan Square Garden rally who compared Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage.”
- Vance responded to Tony Hinchcliffe’s widely condemned remarks by saying he’s “not worried about a joke that a comedian who has no affiliation” with the Trump campaign has made, adding: “We have to stop getting so offended at every little thing.”
Flashback: After Hinchcliffe made the joke, Trump’s representatives said it “does not reflect” his views nor those of the campaign.
- During a video call with progressive group Voto Latino, Biden responded to Hinchcliffe’s jab, saying: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
- Biden responded to backlash over his own 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.”
Go deeper: GOP calls foul on Biden’s “garbage” jab despite defending Trump rally