Arizona Democrat Senate candidate Ruben Gallego is remaining mum on whether he will disavow Joe Biden for classifying supporters of Donald Trump as “garbage.”
The president’s remarks came Tuesday evening during a virtual event with Voto Latino, a left-wing get-out-the-vote group. While referencing a comedian’s joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage” told at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, Biden said Americans who back the former president are human scum.
“[J]ust the other day, a speaker at [Trump’s] rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. … The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said.
The incident calls to mind Hillary Clinton referring to Trump supporters as “deplorables” during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Gallego, who is running to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate, did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment on whether he agrees with Biden’s claim that Trump supporters are “garbage.” Nor did he respond when asked if he condemns the president for making such a statement.
Gallego did, however, offer his thoughts on the aforementioned comedian’s joke about Puerto Rico. On X, the Arizona Democrat brought up the deaths of U.S. service members of Puerto Rican descent who “died in defense” of America to criticize the comedian’s quip.
Responding to Biden’s comments on X, Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake compared the insult to Clinton’s “deplorables” smear and previous remarks by Gallego during a 2016 interview.
In an interview with Arizona PBS, the Democrat claimed that Trump ran a “xenophobic campaign,” which he contended “drew out the worst people in the world.” Gallego also said he would “do everything to protect” Americans, “even those dumb enough to vote for Donald Trump.”
“How can they serve us if they hate us?” Lake asked on X.
While polls are often used to shape public opinion as much as reflect it, surveys have shown Gallego leading Lake in this year’s Senate race. According to the RealClearPolitics average, the Democrat representative holds a 4-point lead over the GOP nominee.
The Grand Canyon State’s Senate contest is one of several high-profile races that could determine which party controls the upper chamber next year.
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