The liberal co-hosts of "The View" dismissed outrage over President Biden appearing to call former President Trump's supporters "garbage" on Tuesday.
"They're working very hard to spin this to some crazy end," Whoopi Goldberg said about the Republican reaction to Biden's comment on Wednesday's show. Goldberg said she didn't "understand" why Trump supporters would be upset about Biden's remark, when Trump had called the United States the world's "garbage can" for criminals and bad actors, in comments criticizing the Biden-Harris administration's border policies.
"He’s called Democrats evil, dangerous, Marxists, communists, fascists, sick people, the enemy within, and he said all that just this week," Goldberg continued. "So I don't understand why you're clutching your pearls. You’re trying to make something out of a tongue slip. Yeah, Hillary [Clinton] called these folks deplorable. Yeah, okay, it happened, but —" she began before co-host Joy Behar cut in.
"For months and months we’ve been hearing how Joe Biden is in dementia, that he’s old, he's doddering, he can’t remember, all of a sudden he’s clear as a bell!" Behar quipped as the hosts laughed.
Fellow co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said she thought Vice President Kamala Harris had "knocked it out of the park" with her closing statement to voters last night, but that Biden had "stepped on it."
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She suggested Harris' comment could sway undecided voters away from Harris, saying Clinton's infamous "deplorables" comment about Trump supporters from the 2016 election, "did matter."
"Turns out she was right!" Goldberg said about Clinton's insult.
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Biden's controversial remark came during a virtual campaign event on Tuesday with Voto Latino, one of the largest Latino voter and civic outreach organizations in the United States.
Asked about the derogatory joke about Puerto Rico made by a comedian at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, Biden said, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. [Trump's] demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it is un-American."
Biden sought to clarify his remarks hours later, 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."
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Harris also distanced herself from Biden's comments on Wednesday.
"I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for," Harris told reporters. "You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout career. I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not."
Fox News' Scott McDonald and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.