Conflict brews within House GOP conference between moderates and mass deportation hardliners



President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on the promise that he will implement nationwide mass deportations after the Biden-Harris administration allowed at least 10 million migrants to illegally enter the country over the last four years. While Trump has many political allies on the hill, others within the Republican conference hold a more moderate view on the immigration issue, which may stir conflict in the coming weeks.

Speaker Mike Johnson has earned the wholehearted endorsement of the president-elect, despite being at the center of much of the GOP's infighting. While he has aligned himself with Trump's MAGA mandate, he wavered on the key issue of immigration during an interview with CNN on Sunday.

'Our starting place should be for any individuals who came here illegally or were released into the United States illegally, illegitimately, by the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas regime.'

Johnson first and foremost reaffirmed that his position largely aligns with Trump's, insisting that effective immigration policy was a "mandate" from the American people.

"This is what the American people have demanded and what they deserve," Johnson told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday. "They want a secure country. They want a secure border. And we will deliver upon that. That's what the mandate of the election was all about."

Despite this, Johnson indicated that his deportation policy would not include all illegal immigrants at first but rather prioritize the deportation of criminals.

"I think what the president is talking about is beginning with the dangerous persons that we know are here," Johnson said. "There are criminals, known criminals. There are known terrorists in the country. There are some who have been apprehended for committing violent crimes after they've come across the border illegally. So you start with that number. You've got, by some counts, as many as 3 or 4 million people that fit in that category. Begin there and then see how it transpires."

Johnson's comments earned a bit of pushback from political allies and immigration hardliners like Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who says we should "keep our foot on the gas" when it comes to deportations.

"We've made some progress in unity," Roy said on Glenn Beck's Monday show. "But, I will say, I was a little concerned about what I heard yesterday, and the speaker kind of walked it back a little bit. But focusing on deportation, I think we need to just keep our foot on the gas."

"I want to be very clear," Roy continued. "Our starting place should be for any individuals who came here illegally or were released into the United States illegally, illegitimately, by the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas regime. They need to be removed."

While Republicans like Johnson and Roy have smaller differences to parse in the upcoming Congress, other GOP representatives are going against the grain when it comes to the MAGA mandate.

Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, a fellow Texan who represents a border county, has signaled opposition to the blanket deportations Trump is advocating for.

"If the message is, 'We're here to deport your abuelita,' that's not going to work well," Gonzales said, using the Spanish word for "grandma," in a Sunday interview with ABC News. "It has to be one of holding these hardened criminals accountable."

“You know, if we’re going after the guy that’s picking tomatoes or the nurse at the local hospital and we’re not going after the convicted criminal, then our government has failed us,” Gonzales said.

Despite the top-down mandate from Trump, the Republican conference could become fractured on yet another hot-button issue.

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'Wow': Biden-Harris DOD bungles Veterans Day commemoration with mind-boggling error



Keen observers noticed something amiss about a Biden-Harris Department of Defense social media post Monday commemorating Veterans Day.

In a now-deleted post on Instagram and X, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office — whose very existence centers on the F-35 fighter jet — shared an image of an aircraft with the caption, "Today, and every day, we thank all Veterans and those currently serving for their service and sacrifice."

The trouble with the F-35 JPO's post was not the wording but rather the image. Not only was the aircraft pictured not American, it belongs to an adversarial, communist nation that some living veterans commemorated on Monday fought against in Korea.

Military.com noted that instead of the F-35's single Pratt & Whitney F135 turbofan engine, the vehicle depicted in the post had twin engines. On closer examination, it appears as though the F-35 JPO actually posted an image of communist China's J-35 stealth fighter aircraft, the People's Liberation Army Air Force's F-35 knockoff.

'You can't make this stuff up.'

The backlash was immediate.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) wrote, "WTAF?"

"Biden Administration: showcasing Chinese military equipment on Veterans Day," wrote Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

One commentator on Instagram noted, "'Mom I want an F-35 from the JPO!' 'no son, we have F-35s at home!' *the F-36s at home*"

"Embarrassing," wrote another user. "Please take this down. We don't want a Chinese J-35 supported by our F-35 JPO office."

Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck tweeted, "You can't make this stuff up. Wow."

Former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup investment banker John LeFevre wrote, "China stole the IP for the F-35 and then mocked us by naming theirs the J-35. Today, the Biden administration celebrated Veteran's Day by posting a picture of the Chinese knockoff."

The F-35 JPO, which touts itself as the "DoD's focal point for defining next gen strike aircraft weapons systems," deleted the post, then shared images and video of real F-35 jets.

Blaze News has reached out to the F-35 JPO for comment.

While embarrassing, the F-35 JPO's blunder was not the first time the Biden-Harris DOD evidenced difficulty discerning friend from foe.

Stars and Stripes reported that the U.S. Pacific Fleet tweeted then deleted a Fourth of July message last year depicting a service member saluting silhouettes of a Russian Kashin-class destroyer and Russian Sukhoi-27 fighter jets.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service similarly mistook an adversary's ship for its own, celebrating the U.S. Navy's 246th birthday in 2021 with an image of a Russian Kirov-class battle cruiser.

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Judge strikes blow to Biden-Harris admin’s mass amnesty program



On Thursday, a federal judge dealt a significant blow to the Biden-Harris administration’s plan to provide mass amnesty to at least 550,000 illegal aliens currently residing in the United States.

Earlier this year, a coalition of 16 Republican-led states, spearheaded by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and America First Legal, filed a lawsuit against the administration for its “Keeping Families Together” program. The program would have granted amnesty to illegal immigrant spouses and stepchildren of American citizens, Blaze News previously reported.

'Once again, we have stopped the Biden-Harris Administration’s radical attempts to destroy America’s borders and undermine the rule of law.'

Additionally, the program would have permitted beneficiaries to parole in place, allowing them to remain in the country while their status is adjusted.

The lawsuit, filed by the 16 state attorneys general, argued that the administration’s claim that it would apply to roughly 550,000 illegal aliens was “likely a significant underestimate,” projecting that it could be closer to 1.3 million.

The complaint contended that the process was unconstitutional because it circumvented Congress and would “irreparably harm” the states’ communities.

U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker, a Trump-appointed judge, sided with the states’ lawsuit, striking down the program.

In his 74-page ruling, Barker stated that the administration’s program “focuses on the wrong thing in identifying ‘significant public benefits’ — the benefits of aliens’ new legal status, rather than their presence in this country.”

“The Rule exceeds statutory authority and is not in accordance with law for this reason as well,” he concluded, adding that the “defendants’ view stretches legal interpretation past its breaking point.”

“The court declares that defendants lack statutory authority … to grant parole ‘in place’ to aliens,” Barker wrote.

America First Legal Executive Director Gene Hamilton stated, “Since day one, the Biden-Harris administration has dedicated itself to the decimation of our immigration system and the erasure of our borders.”

“Time and again, the states stood up. And today, the great state of Texas and the courageous Ken Paxton, alongside a coalition of other brave attorneys general, succeeded in stopping an illegal program that would have provided amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and paved the path for the largest administrative amnesty in American history,” Hamilton added.

Paxton wrote in a post on X, “Once again, we have stopped the Biden-Harris Administration’s radical attempts to destroy America’s borders and undermine the rule of law. This unlawful parole scheme would have rewarded more than 1 million illegal aliens with citizenship and incentivized millions more to break into our country. I look forward to the day when the federal government starts following the law again.”

The administration’s Department of Justice can decide to appeal Barker’s ruling.

Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to CBS News’ requests for comment.

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Military draft agency amplifies Democrats' Trump-Hitler narrative with profane social media post



The federal government agency tasked with managing the military draft database reshared a profane social media post, amplifying Democrats' narrative likening President-elect Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.

The New York Post reported that the Biden-Harris administration's Selective Service System shared an X post on Wednesday suggesting that with the re-election of Trump, the United States is headed toward a mandatory military draft.

'We are investigating this incident.'

The original post, written by a user going by the name "SloJoe," read, "For all you stupid f***s out there that still believe military service will be voluntary. Remember Germany 1936."

The post apparently referred to Hitler's decision in March 1935 to reinstate military conscription in Germany, directly violating the Treaty of Versailles. A year later, Hitler ordered 3,000 German troops to occupy the Rhineland, a demilitarized region of the country bordering France.

A CBS News report pointed out the agency's vulgar repost, stating, "What's going on with the @SSS_gov X account?"

The post remained on the agency's page for more than an hour before it was removed, according to the New York Post.

In June, Trump accused the Washington Post of coming "up with the ridiculous idea" that he would "call for Mandatory Military Service."

"The Story is completely untrue. In fact, I never even thought of that idea," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Under U.S. law, nearly all men between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System.

The agency's website states, "While there is currently no draft, registration with the Selective Service System is the most publicly visible program during peacetime that ensures operational readiness in a fair and equitable manner."

The Selective Service System's recent social media blunder follows a wave of repeated claims from the left that Trump is a "fascist."

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that Trump's Madison Square Garden rally echoed a 1939 Nazi rally at the same venue. Walz claimed there was a "direct parallel" between the two events.

The Selective Service System released a statement on Thursday addressing the repost.

It read, "Yesterday an inappropriate X post related to a mandatory draft was reposted on the Selective Service Agency's X account. We are investigating this incident to determine how this happened and are proactively taking steps to prevent this from happening in the future. The reposted content was removed when we became aware of it. The content of the repost in no way reflects the views of the Selective Service System."

Responding to the agency's statement, one X user wrote, "Sounds to me like a DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] hire."

"We want a name and notice of their termination. Better cut them loose now instead of waiting until January," another user responded.

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‘This Man Stood Up’: Powerful Ad Reminds Voters Of All That Trump Has Survived

'Think about all they’ve done to Donald Trump,' the video, from Super PAC Building America's Future, begins.

Liberal media shields Harris from disastrous jobs report



The Democratic Party's liberal media allies seem intent on shielding Vice President Kamala Harris from criticism regarding the administration's latest disastrous jobs report.

On Friday, the October report revealed that the Biden-Harris administration added only 12,000 more jobs to the economy — the lowest increase since December 2020. According to Fox Business, LSEG economists previously predicted a 113,000 job gain.

Trump 'acts like the economy is in the toilet, but that's just not true.'

While the private sector lost 28,000 jobs, the government "continued its upward trend in October," adding another 40,000 jobs, the report stated.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the "unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent in October."

These alarmingly low job-growth numbers come after the Department of Labor's preliminary annual benchmark report in August, which revealed job gains were overstated by more than 800,000 from April 2023 to March 2024, Blaze News previously reported.

The administration has repeatedly overestimated its projected job growth. The DOL's numbers were revised downward by 81,000 in August and by 31,000 in September.

The corporate media machine quickly came up with excuses for the Biden-Harris administration's weak job gains, blaming them on Hurricanes Helene and Milton, as well as the Boeing labor strike.

Those news outlets did not previously extend the same understanding to former President Donald Trump, who faced unprecedented economic challenges as a result of COVID-19. An NBC News article from 2020 torched then-President Trump for gaining "just 661,000 jobs for September."

On Friday, former New York state Sen. David Carlucci (D) told Fox News' Harris Faulkner that the economy is "a winning issue" for Harris.

Carlucci stated that Trump "acts like the economy is in the toilet, but that's just not true."

"Yes, people are struggling, and Kamala Harris knows that and says that, but you've got to take it in its entirety," he continued. "If we look at where we were four years ago, economists were saying we were headed towards a recession, possibly a depression."

Faulkner responded, "So exactly four years ago, around the time of the election, what was being handed was 1.4% [inflation rate]. So I'm confused. I don't think you want to go back four years because that's an easy conversation to have," she added.

Carlucci remarked, "He [Trump] was the second president after Herbert Hoover to leave with less jobs when he left office than when started office."

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Critics ask whether DOJ will give Jimmy Kimmel the Douglass Mackey treatment for 'election interference'



Critics are wondering whether the Biden-Harris Department of Justice will hold Jimmy Kimmel to the same standard to which it held pro-Trump social media influencer Douglass Mackey, who was convicted for supposed "election interference" and sentenced to prison last year for memes.

There is cause to be skeptical. After all, the DOJ has a habit of holding conservatives to a higher standard than its ideological allies.

Former Trump advisers Stephen Bannon and Peter Navarro were convicted for supposed contempt of Congress, whereas Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Attorney General Eric Holder got off scot-free. The proudly pro-abortion DOJ has almost exclusively targeted pro-life activists when it comes to FACE Act charges. The same DOJ adopted a draconian and in some cases "fact-free approach" when prosecuting Jan. 6 protesters after previously treating Black Lives Matter rioters with kid gloves.

The titular host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" has recently made a number of desperate appeals to potential voters, asking them to get out and vote — just not for President Donald Trump.

In his monologue Wednesday, the Harris booster said, "You have to vote. If you can vote early, vote early. If you can't vote early, vote on time. If you want to vote for Trump, vote late. Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday."

'Biden's DOJ sent Douglass Mackey to prison for sharing this same joke.'

Libs of TikTok responded, "Wasn't Douglass Mackey sentenced to prison for doing something similar? Will @TheJusticeDept investigate Jimmy Kimmel?"

Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) noted, "Douglass Mackey was sent to prison for this."

"Biden's DOJ sent Douglass Mackey to prison for sharing this same joke about Hillary," tweeted former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup investment banker John LeFevre. "Another example of the weaponized lawfare and two-tiered justice that awaits us if Kamala wins."

Mackey chimed in, tweeting, "Jimmy Kimmel told his joke to an audience of millions. The joke meme I sent out didn't even reach more than 100 people until Buzzfeed and Wired reported on it."

Mackey was arrested in 2021, convicted in New York for supposed "election interference," and sentenced in October 2023 to seven months in prison by an Obama-appointed judge, Ann M. Donnelly.

At the time, Trump said, "They're putting Douglass Mackey in jail for sharing a joking meme about Hillary Clinton seven years ago. Nobody ever heard of anything like that."

According to the Biden-Harris DOJ, "Between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to 'vote' via text message or social media which was legally invalid."

The Intercept noted that there is no federal law against lying about election mechanisms or the electoral process. Mackey was instead indicted under a Reconstruction-era statue known as Section 241 or the "Ku Klux Klan Act," which prohibits conspiring to "injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person" trying to exercise a constitutionally or federally protected right.

The DOJ was evidently proud of the mental gymnastics required to charge the Clinton critic, stating that his prosecution was "groundbreaking."

Mackey is appealing his case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court, should that fail.

According to Mackey and amici curiae, "The First Amendment tolerates narrow, clear statutes that target knowingly false speech concerning the time, place, and manner, or other technical mechanics of an election. But Section 241 is not such a statute. This Court should reverse the decision of the district court."

"When I made an election joke, the Deep State used it as a pretext to conduct a fishing expedition against me, subpoenaing all financial records, leases, employment information and pay stubs, and email accounts. Will Jimmy Kimmel enjoy the same?" Mackey tweeted on Thursday.

'Force these scumbags to live by their own rules.'

One X user noted that Kimmel's "violation is worse than what [Mackey was] convicted for, and he transmitted this over federally licensed airwaves. The @FCC, @FBI, #FEC and #DOJ should be contacted, @ABC should be immediately sanctioned, and @Jimmykimmel needs to be investigated. Anything less is selective and preferential justice."

Rob Eno, Blaze Media's director of content marketing, quipped, "It would be a real shame if everyone flooded the US DOJ crime tip line and ask them to charge Jimmy Kimmel with the same crime they charged Douglass Mackey with. A real shame. I'm not telling you to to go this link and do it."

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh tweeted, "I'm dead serious when I say if Trump wins he should have Jimmy Kimmel arrested and jailed. Force these scumbags to live by their own rules."

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Taxpayer funds wasted on DHS outreach campaign to help illegal immigrants



The Biden-Harris administration's Department of Homeland Security has squandered taxpayer funds to erect billboards in Texas offering legal assistance to detained illegal immigrants.

A DHS source tipped off Fox News Digital about the billboards last week.

One of the advertisements read, "Your brother in immigration custody has rights."

"We're here to help," it adds.

The ads were created by the DHS' Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, an independent office that "assists individuals with complaints about the potential violation of immigration detention standards or other misconduct by DHS (or contract) personnel." The office also oversees immigration detention facilities.

'Congress should NOT be funding propaganda to undermine our own laws.'

The DHS' decision to put up the billboards sparked outrage within the department's agencies, according to Fox News Digital.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers told the news outlet they are furious.

Fox News Digital journalist Bill Melugin stated, "Multiple DHS contacts I've talked to, including in ICE & Border Patrol, are outraged about the billboards, telling me their agencies are already working with limited funding/resources, and DHS is spending money on billboards that they feel work against them."

An ICE source called the ads "more than insulting."

A Border Patrol agent told Melugin, "This is so wrong."

When Fox News Digital reached out for comment, DHS responded with "a history lesson about the ombudsman office" but did not answer any questions.

"DHS and its employees provide the highest standard of care for individuals who are detained in its custody," the DHS stated.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) called the DHS' outreach campaign "insane."

"The news that DHS is using taxpayer money to launch billboards advocating 'rights' for individuals in 'immigration custody' should be alarming because it's a preview of the legal arguments that radical progressive democrats will use to argue against deportation of the millions dumped in America by Biden-Harris-Mayorkas," Roy stated. "Congress should NOT be funding propaganda to undermine our own laws. That's insane."

"Americans should not PAY for free legal advice to foreign criminals," Roy declared.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said, "Whether it's FEMA splurging hundreds of millions of dollars on migrant housing or OIDO running ads like this, our government is hemorrhaging money on the wrong priorities."

"It's time for Congress to pull the plug on programs like these," he added.

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Liberal media keeps heat on comedian’s joke while twisting itself in knots to spin Biden’s ‘garbage’ insult



The Democratic Party's corporate media allies spent the past few days condemning a comedian for a joke he made at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

By Wednesday morning, many of those same media outlets were still focusing on that story while largely overlooking an insult by the current sitting president against Trump's supporters, which echoed the language used in the comedian's joke.

The liberal media outlets vehemently criticized Tony Hinchcliffe, a roast comedian, for his joke calling Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

'Will the networks that obsessively covered a joke from a comedian ... cover the fact that the Kamala Harris campaign is insulting half of the country?'

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden made an appearance on CNN where he addressed Hinchcliffe's comedy at Trump's rally.

Biden stated, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his [Trump's] supporters."

Instead of reacting with the same outrage over Biden's incendiary language, the media fell in line with the White House's attempt to reinterpret the president's comments.

The White House transcript of Biden's statement included an apostrophe on "supporter's," suggesting that the president had referred to Hinchcliffe specifically.

In a statement, Biden said, "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. 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."

Many of the same media outlets gave the president a pass for his remark.

Politico entirely misrepresented Biden's comments, claiming the president "said 'the only garbage' was the 'hatred' of Trump supporters who said such things about American citizens."

The outlet released the full quote from Biden but included the misleading apostrophe.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance stated, "Will the networks that obsessively covered a joke from a comedian at a Trump rally cover the fact that the Kamala Harris campaign is insulting half of the country? Will they even report honestly on this disgusting behavior from our present leadership?"

Podcaster Tim Pool also reacted to the media's reporting.

Pool wrote on X, "Its funny because Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke, Biden was serious."

"Also spare me your apostrophe bullshit***, that was a complete sentence," he added.

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) also was not buying the White House's spin on Biden's comment.

Donalds told CNN, "The first statement from Joe Biden, is the one that he truly believes. He does not think that people who disagree with him or his party, who support President Trump, are Americans. He thinks that they're garbage."

He compared Biden's Tuesday comments to remarks he made a few years ago.

"It was Joe Biden that went on the 'Breakfast Club', and he famously said that if you couldn't vote for him, then you weren't black. It's the same Joe Biden making the same type of statement four years ago. So, this is consistent with who he is," Donalds added.

Reporter Savanah Hernandez reacted to Biden's comment, writing on X, "Thank God Joe Biden called us all garbage, now I don't have to listen to the faux outrage over Tony Hinchcliffe's joke anymore AND he stole all of the momentum from Kamala's rally tonight."

"Biden out here single-handedly winning Trump the election. What a patriot," she said.

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'Catastrophic error': Biden dehumanizes Trump supporters nationwide, torpedoing Harris on 'her night'



Kamala Harris gave a major campaign speech Tuesday evening at the Ellipse in the nation's capital, once again demonizing President Donald Trump and accusing him of dividing the nation. Despite noting earlier that "it's her night," President Joe Biden diverted attention away from Harris' final pitch to voters, torpedoing both her message and the recent manufactured scandal over comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's joke about Puerto Rico.

Biden's unforced error, reminiscent of failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's "deplorables" comment in September 2016 and Barack Obama's elitist "guns or religion" attack in 2008, may be enough to kneecap Democrats less than a week before Election Day.

The White House and liberal media nevertheless found a way to make matters worse by trying to gaslight the American public about what Biden really said.

The smear

On a call with Voto Latino just before his bedtime on Tuesday, Biden tried his best to keep the fascist smear against Trump going, despite the top Harris super PAC admitting its inefficacy days earlier.

'There's no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don't just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him.'

"You know, he says immigrants are 'poisoning the blood' of our country. Give me a break. He wants to do away with the birthright citizenship. Who the hell else said that in the last 100 years?" said Biden.

Biden then latched onto one of Hinchcliffe's many jokes at Trump's high-energy Madison Square Garden rally Sunday in New York City as evidence of Trump's supposed divisiveness and fascistic bent.

"And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a 'floating island of garbage.' Well, let me tell you something," said Biden. "In my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American."

The backlash

Trump learned of Biden's "garbage" smear during a campaign event in Pennsylvania. He told the diverse crowd of Americans that had just been dehumanized by Harris' boss, "Remember Hillary? She said 'deplorable,' and then she said 'irredeemable.' That didn't work out. 'Garbage,' I think, is worse, right. But he doesn't know. You have to please forgive him. Please forgive him for he not knoweth what he said."

Hours later, Trump wrote on Truth Social:

While I am running a campaign of positive solutions to save America, Kamala Harris is running a campaign of hate. She has spent all week comparing her political opponents to the most evil mass murderers in history. Now, on top of everything, Joe Biden calls our supporters 'garbage.' You can't lead America if you don't love the American People. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have shown they are both unfit to be President of the United States.

At Trump's rally, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said, "[Biden] is talking about the Border Patrol. He is talking about nurses. He's talking about teachers. He's talking about everyday Americans who love their country and want to dream big again and support [Donald Trump]."

"We are not garbage. We are patriots who love America," added Rubio.

The Trump campaign started posting images of Americans of various walks of life who support Trump, noting, "This is who Kamala and Joe Biden call 'garbage.' President Trump calls them Patriots."

Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said in a statement:

President Trump is backed by Latinos, Black voters, union workers, angel moms, law enforcement officers, border patrol agents, and Americans of all faiths — and Harris, Walz, and Biden have labeled these great Americans as fascists, Nazis, and now, garbage. There's no way to spin it: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don't just hate President Trump, they despise the tens of millions of Americans who support him.

While some were willing to cut Biden slack on account of his decrepitude, others were not so forgiving.

Former Salomon Brothers and Citigroup investment banker John LeFevre, for instance, noted, "These are not the words of a comedian or a rambling old man. This is what they believe. The people who don't frame their college degrees are garbage. The people who get their hands dirty at work are garbage. The people who only wear suits to go to church are garbage. The people who don't read the New York Times are garbage. The people who open car doors for women and think boys and girls are different are garbage. The people who proudly honor their ancestors, who created western civilization, are garbage."

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy joined others in suggesting the "garbage" comment amounted to an "October surprise." Meanwhile, "Thanks Joe" trended on X.

Biden's remarks trashed the Harris campaign's hopes of Americans paying attention to the vice president's speech in Washington, D.C.

Former CNN correspondent Chris Cillizza said, "Biden's verbal gaffe (if that's what it was) is an absolute nightmare for Harris campaign. This is getting more attention than Harris' closing argument speech."

The cover-up

Biden later tried spinning his initial remarks, tweeting, "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. 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."

Other Democrats and their allies in the liberal media dutifully embraced the revisionist history.

The White House added an apostrophe to muddle the transcript of his call with Voto Latino, such that it read, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter's — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it's un-American."

NPR appeared reluctant to commit to the truth about Biden's remarks, writing that he "appeared to say" Trump supporters were garbage.

Politico went the distance, falsely reporting that "Biden, in a Zoom call with the organization Vote Latino, said 'the only garbage' was the 'hatred' of Trump supporters who said such things about American citizens."

After significant backlash — including from Vance — for its Orwellian revisionism, Politico changed the article but kept the White House's similarly misleading punctuation.

Sen. JD Vance, who blasted Biden over the "garbage" remark, noted that "the fact that these 'journalists' are covering for a catastrophic error from Kamala's campaign is a scandal."

While the American left largely circled the wagons, some Democrats attempted to distance themselves from Biden and his remarks.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, for instance, told CNN, "I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn't support."

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