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Donald Trump got off his private plane in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon and, wearing a bright orange safety vest, got into a garbage truck in an attempt to troll Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
With election day approaching, Republican and Democratic candidates are hoping to capitalize on racist comments made against Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday when the comedian called the US territory a “floating island of trash.”
The truck was emblazoned with the Trump campaign logo and the former president leaned out of the same window as the McDonald’s photo-op, asking the press: “How do you like my garbage truck?”
He added that it was “out of respect for Kamala and Joe Biden” and went on to say that the president “should be ashamed of himself” and that “he shouldn’t have let that happen” referring to Biden’s verbal flub on Tuesday night.
The president’s stumbling over the words during the call sparked a brouhaha over what he actually said, with the Trump campaign claiming he had called his supporters trash and the White House saying Biden said he was referring to Latinos’ comedians.
Trump’s garbage truck actions might have been better if he hadn’t talked to reporters about comedians, comments, and Puerto Rico, while leaning out of the vehicle window, prolonging the scandal over the comments.
“I don’t know anything about comedians,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know who he is. I never saw him. I heard him make a statement, but that’s a statement he made. He’s a comedian, what can I say. I don’t know anything about him.”
CBS News’ Jake Rosen asked the former president if he owed anything to Puerto Rico, to which he replied: “I love Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico loves me.”
He continued: “No one has done more for Puerto Rico than me. I took care of them when they had two hurricanes. And no one is better with Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans than me. They love me and I love him.”
Sunday’s remarks sparked outrage in the Puerto Rican community, with prominent members endorsing Harris and condemning Trump. Reggaeton star Nicky Jam who has endorsed the former president has withdrawn his support, saying: “Puerto Rico deserves respect.”
What is not lost on commentators is that Trump recently also described the entire US as “the garbage dump of the world” when talking about immigration.
Former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin explained how she felt about the Republican candidate’s exit in a post on X: “Was it an effective stunt? No. They thought voters heard “garbage” & thought about Biden’s gaffe.. but the Puerto Rico disaster Trump campaign more deep in the zeitgeist. Total failure.”
He added: “Trump made an offensive joke that caused outrage; Trump tried to clean up on Fox; Biden stepped in, inadvertently giving Trump a lifeline; Trump’s genius campaign: ‘Let’s remind everyone who offended Puerto Ricans & called America trash by driving a garbage truck!’”
Tommy Vietor, former staffer for Barack Obama, called out Trump’s campaign manager Chris LaCivita immediately saying it was a “genius plan” to keep “Puerto Rico’s joke controversy in the news for another day”.
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch.comalso impressed, recalling when the former president infamously threw paper towels to survive hurricanes in the US territory: “The plan for the day for the Trump campaign was Trump talking about the Puerto Rico controversy from a garbage truck? Because it happened. Good optics. The only thing missing was a paper towel. “
Harris spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika posted: “The candidate who called America ‘trash’; The one who called Puerto Rico ‘trash’ at a rally; It’s riding around in a garbage truck for fun. Is this a donation to @KamalaHQ?”
The stunt also raised questions about Trump’s health as he still hasn’t released his medical report less than a week before the election.
Video footage of the former president approaching the truck shows him failing to grab the door handle twice and stumbling slightly before pulling himself into the vehicle.
In a strange move, the same clip was used by Sean Hannity on his Fox News show, when he called the moment “epic,” and the network’s social media accounts.
On MSNBC, host Alex Wagner described the whole episode as a five-year-old’s dream: “What happens when you’re old and you’re a boy? All you have to do is drive a garbage truck.
Maybe this is Trump’s dream. Early in his presidency, he was photographed sitting in the driver’s seat of a semi-truck outside the White House at an event for truckers and CEOs.
A few months later he was again pictured on a truck at the White House, this time a fire truck produced by Wisconsin-based Pierce, for the Made in America event.
The latest stunt wasn’t over when Trump got out of the truck. He wore a neon orange safety vest during a rally in Green Bay.
Men’s fashion expert Derek Guy tweeted: “I recommend not wearing a vest in the same color as your face.”
