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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