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Longtime GOP pollster Frank Luntz warns that Biden's “garbage” comment may have cost Harris the election
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Longtime GOP pollster Frank Luntz warns that Biden's “garbage” comment may have cost Harris the election

Top Republican strategist Frank Luntz has warned that President Joe Biden's “garbage” comment could potentially cost Kamala Harris the election.

Biden inadvertently sparked a conservative media storm this week when he appeared to call Donald Trump's supporters “trash” in response to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's racist joke about Puerto Rico at the GOP candidate's rally at Madison Square Garden.

The GOP pollster criticized Biden for the “inappropriate” remark and predicted it could be a “tipping point” in the 2024 race.

“I can promise you this will increase Trump turnout,” Luntz told CNN.

“This could be a turning point for the bottom three percent. That’s all that’s left to convince.”

Luntz said Biden's gaffe would likely hurt Harris more because he's “not a comedian who says something stupid and offensive.”

“Here the President of the United States supports the statement of his Vice President – and I know there are different interpretations of what he said – but it is still inappropriate. “He still shouldn't do it,” Luntz said compared the gaffe to when Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables” in 2016.

Frank Luntz criticized Biden for his comments
Frank Luntz criticized Biden for his comments (CNN)

“The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters, his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American,” Biden said.

The White House said he quickly tried to downplay the comments, emphasizing that he was referring to Hinchcliffe's demonization of Latinos — and not Trump's supporters.

Harris, meanwhile, distanced himself from the comments. “I completely disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she told reporters.

Trump seized on Biden's comment to turn the tables after his campaign faltered over Hinchcliffe's joke.

On Wednesday, Trump climbed into a garbage truck wearing a bright orange safety vest to taunt Biden and Harris in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Trump sits in a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 30
Trump sits in a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 30 (REUTERS)

But during the stunt, the former president was still asked about Hinchcliffe by reporters.

“I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. “I don't know who he is. I've never seen him before. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement he made. He's a comedian, what can I tell you. I don’t know anything about him.”

CBS News' Jake Rosen asked the former president if he owed Puerto Rico an apology, to which he replied, “I love Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico loves me.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 400,000 people born in Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent live in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, as well as large Puerto Rican communities in other key swing states.

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