Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick released an advertisement highlighting the friendship between Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and President Joe Biden after the president referred to supporters of former President Donald Trump as “garbage” in comments the White House later claimed referred to a comedian.
“According to Bob Casey, his ‘close friend’ Joe Biden is the picture of integrity,” wrote McCormick in a post to the social media platform X. “He just called half our nation ‘garbage.'”
McCormick’s ad combines the clip of Biden describing Trump’s supporters as “garbage” with Casey’s previous declaration that Biden has an “uncommon” commitment to “basic integrity” not usually seen in politicians.
Biden referred to Trump’s supporters as garbage on Tuesday, after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” during Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, when the president declared, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.”
The White House later provided a transcript of Biden’s remarks that suggested Hinchcliffe’s joke was the “garbage” Biden referenced, but Vice President Kamala Harris nonetheless distanced herself from the president, stating, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
Biden made the remarks during a remote interview that aired simultaneously with Harris’ “closing argument” speech, which the vice president delivered in Washington, D.C. as her boss referred to Trump supporters as “garbage.”
Casey also responded to Biden’s remarks through a spokesperson, who told Washington Free Beacon reporter Chuck Ross, “Senator Casey respects all Pennsylvanians regardless of how they vote.”
McCormick condemned the “weak” response from Casey in another post to X.
“Bob Casey cannot bring Pennsylvania together if he is too weak to condemn Joe Biden or anyone else calling half our state garbage,” wrote McCormick.
Bob Casey cannot bring Pennsylvania together if he is too weak to condemn Joe Biden or anyone else calling half of our state garbage. https://t.co/iCh4cRWRDj
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) October 30, 2024
As the McCormick campaign seizes on Biden’s remarks in the final days of the campaign, the RealClearPolling average shows the race has narrowed dramatically, with Casey leading the Republican challenger by an average of just 2.3 percent.
Two polls published last week, after McCormick and Casey debated for the final time, additionally showed McCormick leading Casey for the first time since the campaign began, though both surveys were within their pollsters’ margin of error.
They also followed Casey’s admission his campaign’s internal polls showed a much tighter race than public data indicated, made during an October 13 interview, when the Democrat said both he and Harris were “probably in a two-point race.”
Watch the McCormick campaign’s ad:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Sen Bob Casey and President Joe Biden” by Sen. Bob Casey.
