In a call organized by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden responded to a comedian at Trump’s rally who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Biden’s initial comments were distorted.

“A speaker at his rally the other day described Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage. Let me tell you something, I don’t know any Puerto Ricans that I know, I don’t know any Puerto Ricans that I’m from in my home state of Delaware. “They are good, honest and honorable people,” he said.

The president later added: “The only garbage I see floating around is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American. “It’s completely contrary to everything we do, everything we do.”

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden “called the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally ‘garbage.'”

Biden’s tone when referring to Trump supporters as “trash” contrasted with the message Democratic candidate Kamala Harris intended to appeal to a broad audience, including disaffected Republicans.

Just minutes after Biden’s comments, Harris spoke from the Ellipse in Washington and promised to be a president who would unite the country.

Biden’s vice president, Harris, said, “I promise to be the president of all Americans.”

Republicans were quick to highlight Biden’s remarks.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio interrupted Trump’s rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to explain what happened.

“A few minutes ago, Joe Biden said that our supporters, our patriots, are trash,” Rubio said.

“It talks about ordinary Americans who love their country.”

Some prominent Democrats also began to distance themselves from Biden’s comments.

Speaking to CNN, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said he would “never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any American, even if they choose to support a candidate that I do not support.”

The comments were reminiscent of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who dismissed Trump supporters at a fundraiser in New York in 2016, saying half of them would fit in a “basket of deplorables.”

Clinton later called this characterization “extremely generalist.”

But it became a defiant rally cry for many Trump supporters, who said the insult epitomized the elitist attitudes of Clinton and the Democrats.

But his efforts to stay in the political spotlight may not always be so beneficial to the top of the Democratic ticket, which he now supports.

That’s because although Harris has been harshly critical of Trump for months, repeatedly calling him “unstable” and “irrational” and even suggesting he is a “fascist,” she has been careful not to smear his supporters.

In fact, the vice president has run an extensive campaign alongside former Republican Liz Cheney and other former GOP elected officials, hoping to attract crossover conservative voters.

The Democrats’ convention and Harris ads highlighted stories of ordinary Americans who said they voted for Trump in the past but now support the vice president.

Biden also said in his call that Trump “doesn’t care about the Latino community” and called for the former president to be repudiated, even as Trump’s campaign said his support was growing among Hispanics, especially men.

“Vote to keep Donald Trump out of the White House,” Biden said.

“He is a real danger not just to Latinos, but to all people. Especially those who are a minority in this country.”