Kamala Harris has attempted to distance herself from Joe Biden’s comments about Donald Trump’s supporters, which have attracted backlash in the final days of the campaign.
“He clarified his comments,” Ms Harris said on Wednesday, local time. “But let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
On Tuesday, the president was condemning a joke made by a comedian at a recent Trump rally when he appeared to describe the former president’s supporters as “garbage”.
The White House argues Mr Biden was referring to “hateful rhetoric” and not the supporters themselves.
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The Trump campaign has seized on the remarks.
The vice-president has tried to limit the damage to her own campaign.
“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career,” Ms Harris told reporters as she prepared to board a flight for a campaign event in North Carolina.
“I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not.
“And as president the United States, I will be a president for all Americans whether you vote for me or not.”
Asked if she had spoken to Mr Biden about his comments, Ms Harris said: “He did call me last night but this didn’t come up.”
Mr Biden made the comments during a Zoom call with grassroots get-out-the-vote group Voto Latino.
He was referring to a joke made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York on Sunday.
Hinchcliffe said: “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
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According to the official White House transcription of his comments, Mr Biden said: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
Mr Biden later tweeted:
“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.”
Trump’s campaign argues Mr Biden was clearly calling Trump’s supporters “garbage”. It’s made comparisons to a comment made by Trump’s 2016 election opponent, Hillary Clinton, when she referred to some of his supporters as a “basket of deplorables”.
“Yesterday, Kamala Harris’s governing partner called tens of millions of Americans ‘garbage’,” the campaign said in a fundraising email. “Her campaign is a campaign of hate; President Trump’s is a campaign of unity.”
Trump has said he had “no idea” who the comedian was.
“They put a comedian in, which everybody does — you throw comedians in, you don’t vet them and go crazy. It’s nobody’s fault,” he told Fox News.
Both Ms Harris and Trump are campaigning in multiple key states on Wednesday in the final sprint to the November 5 election.
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