North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum tried on Sunday to complain about President Joe Biden‘s use of the word “garbage” when talking about Donald Trump’s supporters—until he was reminded that Trump has been wielding the insult at Democrats for months.
Burgum told Meet the Press that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe‘s widely panned remark that Puerto Rico was a “floating pile of garbage” did not reflect Trump‘s views on the U.S. territory. He then tried to flip the remark around on Democrats, saying Biden‘s subsequent flub on “garbage”—in which he said the only garbage he sees is Trump’s “supporters,” apostrophe questionable—was evidence of the Biden administration’s “disrespect” for the country.
“One is the disrespect of this administration for Americans and their concerns, whether it’s the border and whether it’s inflation,” Burgum said. “But it also reflects what we’ve seen is that Vice President [Kamala] Harris was part of this cover-up of Joe Biden’s capacity.”
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But moderator Kristen Welker reminded Burgum where the remark originated during the election cycle—not inside the walls of Madison Square Garden or the White House, but out of Trump’s mouth. “It’s the people that surround her,” Trump said at a rally. “They’re scum. They’re scum, and they want to take down our country. They are absolute garbage.”
“So, governor,” Welker asked. “Is it hypocritical to fixate on President Biden’s comments considering Donald Trump used the word garbage to describe Kamala Harris’ supporters?”
Burgum, who was passed over for Trump’s vice presidential slot, didn‘t bother addressing the substance of Trump’s comments—despite using Biden’s remark to attack Democrats. Instead, he dismissed the language as American politicking that does no service to voters.
“There’s always a lot of name-calling in the last week and this has happened before,” Burgum said, adding: “Most Americans don’t have time to listen to all of the soap opera of which comments people should be concerned about.”
Hinchcliffe‘s comments have somewhat upended the race. His “joke” drew widespread condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans, prompting even Trump and his campaign to distance themselves from him.
Sean Hannity asked Trump last week if he wished Hinchcliffe didn’t appear at the rally. “Probably, he shouldn’t have been there, yeah,” Trump said.
