Vice President Kamala Harris’s strategists may have thought they were avoiding problems by keeping President Biden holed up in the White House. But now they may need to take away his Zoom password, too.

In the final days of a coin-toss election, where any small shift theoretically could be decisive, Mr. Biden has twice caused headaches for his vice president with ill-timed gaffes. His latest, during a video call with Latino supporters on Tuesday night, forced Ms. Harris to spend part of the last Wednesday of her campaign distancing herself.

Mr. Biden was denouncing racist comments made by a speaker at a recent Donald J. Trump rally when he appeared to call supporters of Mr. Trump “garbage.” He later explained that he meant that “the hateful rhetoric” from the Trump surrogate was “garbage,” not his supporters generally. But Republicans, expressing umbrage, quickly pounced on what they hoped would be a galvanizing moment for their base and instantly began fund-raising off it.

The unscripted remark came at a particularly inopportune moment for Ms. Harris, barely a half-hour before she took the stage at the Ellipse just outside the White House for a high-profile rally where she unveiled her closing argument before tens of thousands of supporters. Even as she assailed Mr. Trump as a “petty tyrant,” her speech was filled with talk of unity and working across the aisle if she wins, a message undercut by the perception that her own president was denigrating Americans who vote for her opponent.

On Wednesday morning, Ms. Harris disavowed any such sentiment. Speaking with reporters before boarding Air Force Two outside Washington, she noted that Mr. Biden had “clarified his comments.” But she added: “Let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”