“Garbage.”

Different people remember past elections differently, and when you ask them about a particular cycle, they give different answers: Gov. Michael Dukakis in the tank. Senator Kerry's “I actually voted for the $87 billion – before I voted against it.” President George HW Bush looks at his watch. “Where’s the Outrage?” by Senator Robert Dole

President Donald Trump has a long list of good and bad memories from his three races for the top job, and Vice President Harris' line, “I grew up in a middle-class family,” seemed destined for the top spot in the memory game about her cycle by then this week.

Now it seems certain that “trash,” not Harris's middle-class upbringing or “assassinations” (plural), is actually the electoral lever that most people will hold on to for years. And not because of the insult comic, which most Americans had never heard of but which definitely did some damage to Team Trump, but because the current President of the United States calls Trump supporters “trash.”

The variety of reactions to President Joe Biden's characterization of at least 74 million Trump voters as “garbage” goes beyond the length of the column. But whether you want to downplay Biden's deliberate choice of words or spend the next five days talking about nothing else, this one-word presidential slam for half the country is now tattooed on this election. Years later, when Joe Rogan has come and gone and “fascist” returns to a particular definition, writers will still be penning paragraphs about President Biden's decision to speak at the vice president's big night and the specific vilification of Trump supporters .

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Some have tried to dismiss the significance of the president's insult — including some of the same people who thought the undercard insult comic was a “watershed moment” in the 2024 campaign. Consistent standards disappeared from legacy media long ago. They are largely the “communications arm of the DNC,” to quote the “guys” on the Ruthless Podcast.

Others have argued it was a very intentional cutout from Kamala, as “garbage” Red Bull was for Trump voters who might otherwise have stayed home. We simply don't know what impact Joe Biden's unexpected appearance on Monday evening will have. All we know is that it will be part of any serious account of the 2024 election.

THE VIEW dismisses outrage over President Biden's “rubbish” comment

Whether Vice President Harris's interview with Shannon Sharpe on last week's Club Shay Shay podcast makes it into the top ten “Moments” seems unlikely, because for whatever reason the legacy media chose not to talk about this podcast to report (which is probably absolutely the Vice President's podcast). (Worst interview, although Getting Hammered pod host Mary Katharine Ham seems to think the Brene Brown conversation has reached her lowest point.)

Harris is just a terrible candidate. Run all the major party candidates, starting with Ike, and she was the least prepared to run (and she didn't expect to run, in fairness) and the candidate who has demonstrated the least ability to run for the office of Presidents are required, starting with the ability to communicate with the American people.

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It looks like Trump will win a second term on Tuesday night, but after 2016 the educated guesses mean nothing. We don't know. But we know that President Biden should offer a sincere apology to the American people. He promised a very different presidency than one that ended like this. We can only hope that he realizes this and puts a stop to his comment and tells future presidents never to come near it again.

Hugh Hewitt is host of The Hugh Hewitt Show, heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET on the Salem Radio Network and simulcast on the Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide and on all streaming platforms where SNC is seen. He is a frequent guest on Fox News Channel's News Roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6 p.m. ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a law professor at Chapman University's Fowler School of Law since 1996, where he teaches constitutional law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show in Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has appeared frequently on all major national news television networks, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for all major American newspapers, has authored a dozen books, and moderated a number of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015–16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and column on the Constitution, national security, American politics, and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests over his 40 years in broadcasting, from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, and this column previews the main story that informs his radio presence today. /TV show will determine.

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