Even CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Pushes Back Against White House Spin on Biden’s 'Garbage' Remark

In recent events, Democrats have seemed eager to reframe their latest criticisms of former President Donald Trump and his supporters. But is this tactic new? Even some mainstream media allies don’t appear fully committed to supporting the altered narrative.
During a Tuesday interview with Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins questioned the White House’s attempts to downplay President Joe Biden’s comment labeling Trump supporters as “garbage.”
“It’s hard to really look at that when you can listen to it for yourself,” Collins remarked.
The part of Collins’ interview with Shapiro addressing Biden’s controversial statement begins around the 3:00 mark in the clip below.
“This is more BS from Donald Trump,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says after Trump said he didn’t know the comedian who spoke at his rally — as Shapiro also responds to President Biden’s comments about Trump supporters. “It’s certainly not the words I would use," he says. pic.twitter.com/0vBawdGMOJ
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 30, 2024
Earlier that evening, while on a video call with a Latino voters’ group, President Biden made the comment, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” referring directly to Trump’s voter base.
So a comedian not affiliated with Trump’s campaign makes a joke about a PLACE, but Joe Biden just called at least 75 million American PEOPLE garbage. pic.twitter.com/ecTRNo29oH
— Garbage Chad Prather (@WatchChad) October 30, 2024
Thus, Collins’s phrase “it’s hard to really look at that” was aimed at the White House’s official transcript of Biden’s remarks, which had altered “supporters” to “supporter’s.”
In effect, the Biden administration attempted to downplay the statement, framing it as a remark directed at a single individual rather than a larger group.
At Trump’s massive rally on Sunday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke referencing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” The joke garnered a lukewarm response from the audience.
Interestingly, in a separate instance seen in side-by-side footage, comedian George Lopez recently spoke at a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris, where he made lighthearted remarks about Mexicans being thieves.
Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian, can’t make a joke about Puerto Rico.
— Southern FFA Family (@FFAFamily) October 28, 2024
However, George Lopez can joke about Mexicans being thieves.
Either both is a joke or neither is a joke.
We can all see the Hypocrisy made by the Left.
By the way, both jokes are funny. pic.twitter.com/aEvdKDfeKl
However, while the media reacted strongly to Hinchcliffe’s joke, Lopez’s went relatively uncriticized. Over 48 hours of media backlash followed the former, revealing a stark double standard.
The White House subsequently edited Tuesday’s transcript, implying that Biden’s comment referred solely to Hinchcliffe.
The real question is: why? Why attempt to adjust the narrative on Biden’s “garbage” remark after years of portraying Trump supporters in such negative terms?
“It’s certainly not words that I would choose,” Shapiro told Collins regarding the word “garbage.”
Yet, why the distinction? Democrats and their media partners had even referred to Sunday’s New York City rally as a “Nazi” gathering. Vice President Harris has herself compared Trump to Adolf Hitler.
Ultimately, by criticizing Biden’s “garbage” remark while accepting or even encouraging Harris’ Hitler rhetoric, Democrats are avoiding one critique while embracing another, leading to a significant disparity in accountability.