Biden is going off script – again – distracting Harris in the home stretch of the campaign

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden very publicly tried to restrain himself. “Don’t go, Joe. Slow down,” he advised himself during a speech criticizing Republican Donald Trump.

That was Tuesday afternoon. But by evening, Biden didn’t follow his own advice, and now his off-the-cuff comment on a Zoom campaign call has created new headaches Democratic candidate Kamala Harris less than a week before election day.

It’s not the first time Biden has caused problems by going off script. But the latest incident provided a special distraction just as Harris was trying to deliver a high-profile “closing argument” for her campaign, emphasizing the need to unite the country after Trump’s divisions.

Shortly before that, Harris was scheduled to speak on Tuesday evening At a huge rally on a patch of grass not far from the White House, Biden called a Spanish-language advocacy group and commented on a comic strip recent insults against a Trump rally where he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

Biden said, “The only trash I see floating out there is his supporters.”

The president quickly sent a message on social media to clarify his comments about Trump. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable,” Biden said. “That’s all I wanted to say.”

But his sharp words were quickly echoed by Republicans, who said he was denigrating Trump supporters.

Biden, who withdrew from the presidential race in July after a disastrous debate performance and near mutiny within his own party, has been largely absent from the campaign trail since then. But he plans to maintain his relevance and cement his legacy, and he has stepped up his political activities in recent days even though many in his party seem to keep their distance from him.

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

Biden’s comments prompted this Harris said Tuesday that she strongly disagreed “with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

Her aides were already frustrated by another blunder by Biden last week when, speaking about Trump, he told Democratic campaign aides in New Hampshire: “We have to lock him up.”

He quickly found himself adding, “Lock him up politically. Shut him out. That is what we have to do.”

Harris’ supporters often chant “lock him up” at her rallies, a reference to Trump’s many pending criminal cases but also a nod to his own campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2016, when his supporters chanted “lock her up.”

Harris always calms the chant and tells the crowd, “The courts will take care of that.” We will take care of November.”

Biden has also stepped on her events at times. He gave a surprise speech to reporters in the White House briefing room just as Harris was about to take the stage in Michigan: and spoke from the Oval Office on Hurricane Heleneonly Harris canceled campaign events in Las Vegas to rush back to Washington for a briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He has also been wrong about who will run for president.

“We have a lot more work to do, Kamala and I – Kamala – Kamala is doing that,” Biden said last weekend.

In Baltimore, Biden was holding an infrastructure event at the port on Tuesday when he digressed into criticizing Trump and fleetingly brought up comments from Puerto Rico made at the meeting.

He pointed to new funding to “modernize ports in 27 different states and territories, from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and beyond – including, yes, Puerto Rico.”

Then he said of Trump: “I’d like to take that guy swimming.”