Donald Trump faced an uproar over racist jokes told at his pre-election Madison Square Garden rally — but President Joe Biden stopped the damage and “saved” the news cycle for Trump, the president-elect’s campaign team claimed in a new interview.
Speakers at the event — including Tony Hinchcliffe, the comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” — left Trump “aggravated,” co-campaign manager Chris LaCivitatold Politico said in an article posted Thursday.
“Unforced error,” added lead researcher Tony Fabrizio. “I mean, we obviously weren’t happy that it happened.”
LaCivita said they planned to make a one-line statement and “move on,” but Fabrizio hinted that the media anger was not letting up. Three days after the event, Biden appeared to call Trump supporters “trash” in response to the joke.
“The only trash I see floating out there are his supporters,” Biden said.
The White House, relegated to spin control, tried to explain that Biden was referring to Hinchcliffe’s words. The president himself also tried to walk back the comment. Officials even reportedly changed the official transcript to include an apostrophe to support their argument.
But Biden’s comment had redirected the outrage while undermining Kamala Harris’ closing message.
“I saved it,” LaCivita said.
“Biden saved the news cycle?” asked Politico’s Jonathan Martin.
“Yes,” LaCivita replied.
Trump was outraged by some speakers at his Madison Square Garden rally, but Joe Biden’s controversial comment saved the news cycle for Republicans before the election, his campaign team said. Spencer Platt via Getty Images
