MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday described as "disturbing" the attitudes toward Mexico coming from the U.S. presidential election campaign, in which Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has labeled Mexicans as rapists and drug runners.
"The message that is coming out of the United States as a consequence of the presidential campaign, about American attitudes toward Mexicans and Mexico generally, (and) the entire hemisphere and our place in the world, is disturbing," Biden told Mexican officials during a visit to Mexico City.
Property mogul Trump, who has built up a big early lead in the race to become Republican nominee, has vowed to make Mexico pay for a wall to seal off the United States from its southern neighbor, prompting widespread criticism in both countries.
"Some of the rhetoric coming from some of the presidential candidates on the other team are, I think, dangerous, damaging and incredibly ill-advised," added Biden, a Democrat.
"But here's what I'm here to tell you. They do not, they do not, they do not represent the view of the vast majority of the American people," the vice president said.
The 2016 U.S. presidential election is on Nov. 8.
For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, "Tales from the Trail" (http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/).