Biden goes off script — again — causing a distraction for Harris in campaign’s home stretch

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden was very publically trying to rein himself in. “Don’t get going, Joe. Slow up,” he advised himself during a reside wherever he was criticizing Republican Donald Trump.

That was Tuesday afternoon. But by evening, Biden didn’t return his ain advice, and now his off-the-cuff remark connected a Zoom run telephone has created a caller headache for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris little than a week earlier Election Day.

It’s not nan first clip Biden has created problems by going disconnected script. But nan latest incident served arsenic a peculiar distraction conscionable arsenic Harris was trying to present a high-profile “closing argument’ for her run emphasizing nan request to unify nan state aft Trump’s divisiveness.

Shortly earlier Harris was astir to speak Tuesday nighttime to a monolithic rally crowd connected a agelong of writer not acold from nan White House, Biden sewage connected a telephone pinch a Hispanic defense group and commented connected a comic’s caller insults astatine a Trump rally wherever he referred to Puerto Rico arsenic a “floating land of garbage.”

Biden said: “The only garbage I spot floating retired location is his supporters.”

The president quickly sent retired a societal media station seeking to explain his remarks astir Trump. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable,” Biden said. “That’s each I meant to say.”

But his crisp words were quickly seized connected by Republicans who said he was denigrating Trump supporters.

Biden, who withdrew from nan statesmanlike title successful July pursuing a disastrous statement capacity and adjacent mutiny wrong his ain party, has been mostly absent from nan run way since then. But he’s intent connected maintaining his relevance and cementing his legacy, and he has stepped up his governmental activity successful caller days even arsenic galore successful his statement look to beryllium keeping their region from him.

Harris, for her part, has been trying to differentiate herself from her unpopular boss. And she has been actively courting Republican voters.

Biden’s remarks prompted Harris connected Tuesday to say that she powerfully disagreed “with immoderate disapproval of group based connected who they ballot for.”

Her aides were already disappointment by different Biden gaffe past week, when, speaking astir Trump, he told Democratic run workers successful New Hampshire that “We sewage to fastener him up.”

He quickly caught himself to add: “Politically fastener him up. Lock him out. That’s what we person to do.”

Harris supporters often chant “lock him up” astatine her rallies, a reference to Trump’s galore ongoing criminal cases but besides a motion to his ain 2016 run against Hillary Clinton, erstwhile his supporters chanted “lock her up.”

Harris ever quiets nan chant, telling nan crowd: “The courts will return attraction of that. We’ll return attraction of November.”

Biden has besides stepped connected her events astatine times. He made a astonishment reside to reporters successful nan White House briefing room conscionable arsenic Harris was astir to spell onstage successful Michigan, and said from nan Oval Office connected Hurricane Helene, conscionable Harris scrapped run events successful Las Vegas to hurry backmost to Washington for a briefing astatine nan Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He’s besides slipped up connected who is moving for president.

“We sewage a batch much activity to do, Kamala and I — Kamala — Kamala does,” Biden said past weekend.

In Baltimore connected Tuesday, Biden was holding an infrastructure arena astatine nan larboard erstwhile he strayed into criticizing Trump and glancingly brought up nan Puerto Rico comments made astatine nan rally.

He pointed to caller backing to “modernize ports successful 27 different states and territories, from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and beyond — including, yes, Puerto Rico.”

Then he said of Trump: “I’d for illustration to return that feline for a aquatics retired there.”