Staff Reports
The media circus surrounding President Joe Biden’s latest gaffe continues to draw laughs and raise eyebrows as it spirals into absurdity. In the days leading up to the crucial November 5th election, Biden managed to offend millions by casually calling Trump supporters “garbage” during a Voto Latino event. But instead of the sincere apologies one might expect from a leader trying to unite a fractured nation, the White House and its media allies sprang into action, crafting convoluted explanations that would envious even the best fiction writers.
The whole debacle began at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden, where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a harmless joke that triggered the usual suspects lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce on any hint of insensitivity. As Hinchcliffe fumigated the air with comedic relief, Biden’s handlers were prepping for the fallout from his own off-the-cuff remarks that came mere moments before Kamala Harris spoke. The timing of Biden’s “garbage” comment couldn’t have been worse and left the Democrats scrambling to minimize the impact.
WaPo is working overtime trying to cover for Biden and Kamala after his “garbage” comment. #Trump2024 #SaveAmerica pic.twitter.com/54kmpi9Gov
— World Gone Mad (@GoneMad1984) October 30, 2024
Coverage from outlets like Politico has leaned heavily towards protecting Biden, presenting his comments as a mere slip of the tongue caused by his childhood stutter. It wasn’t enough, though—now the mainstream media is in full defense mode, suggesting that his words meant something completely different. Reporters are even engaging in a bizarre exercise of dissecting Biden’s speech for hidden meanings, essentially playing amateur linguists while pretending that the president isn’t simply muddling his words as he tends to do frequently. The idea that he might have meant to disparage millions of voters was completely off the table for them.
The Washington Post took things a step further by dissecting the video in a Zapruder-like fashion—because why not? The ever-creative Aaron Blake analyzed Biden’s statement until he practically redefined the laws of communication, landing on not one but three possible interpretations. While he played this game, he was careful to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, Biden didn’t intend to insult all those “garbage” supporters. The narrative demands a certain level of intellectual gymnastics to avoid confronting the reality that the president is often confused, perhaps even flabbergasted by his own lack of coherence.
Democrats, of course, would prefer to spin this as a lesson learned for candidates seeking to follow in Biden’s footsteps—blame the gaffe machine instead of acknowledging that their own party is sometimes capable of hypocrisy and watching Biden step in it at every turn. It’s as if they’re collectively sighing with relief that Biden, with trademark confusion, isn’t the one at the helm of this election cycle's ticket. A piece of advice for them: trying to spin mortifying blunders as generational lessons aren’t winning any debates.
Ultimately, the real takeaway from this bizarre episode isn’t so much about Biden’s verbal slip but rather the media’s desperate scramble to shield him from the fallout. When reality is inconvenient, the playbook is simple: obfuscate, minimize, and redefine the language being used if all else fails. In the age of social media, this approach might just leave the public more amused than convinced, proving yet again that, too often, the mainstream media’s attempts at damage control leave them as the punchline.
