Race for the White House: Kamala Harris for damage control after Joe Biden’s ‘garbage’ jab at Donald Trump fans

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris vowed on Wednesday to serve “all Americans” if elected president, as she sought to contain fallout from a remark by President Joe Biden that threatened to undercut her message of unity.

“When elected president, I’m going to represent all Americans, including those who don’t vote for me,” the vice-president told reporters before flying to a campaign event in North Carolina, one of seven battleground states that will determine the outcome of the November 5 election.

Harris is spending the final week of the campaign telling voters that she would respect those who disagree with her, and portraying former President Trump as a threat to democracy.

That promise — delivered at a massive rally in front of the White House on Tuesday night — was muddied by Biden, who criticised racist comments made at a Trump rally on Sunday.

According to a White House transcript, Biden said: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s - his - his demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable.”

Trump’s campaign said Biden was referring to Trump supporters as “garbage”, while Biden said later he was talking about the language used by a comedian at the rally.

A Tuesday Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Harris leading Trump 44-43 per cent among registered voters nationally, within the margin of error. Other opinion polls show tight margins in the seven election battleground states. Last month’s hurricane damage has made North Carolina’s results especially hard to predict.