Former President Donald Trump made a theatrical arrival at a Wisconsin airport Wednesday, rolling onto the tarmac in a custom “Make America Great Again” garbage truck.
Sporting an orange safety vest, Trump greeted reporters from the passenger seat, nodding at the truck decked in bold MAGA colours and asking, “How do you like my garbage truck?”
In what many have interpreted as a direct response to President Joe Biden’s recent remark about Trump supporters, Trump added, “This truck is in honour of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
The garbage truck stunt followed comments made by Biden, who referred to Trump supporters as “garbage” during a call with Voto Latino Group on Tuesday.
Biden’s remark came after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, performing at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.” Biden, 81, condemned both Hinchcliffe’s comment and Trump’s support base, stating, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonisation of Latinos is excessive, and it’s un-American.”
Speaking from Washington, Vice President Kamala Harris echoed Biden’s call for unity, describing the Democratic Party as committed to healing national divides.
Harris and the White House sought to defuse backlash over Biden’s statement, amending the official transcript with an apostrophe to imply that Biden intended to single out Hinchcliffe’s remarks, not Trump supporters broadly.
Additionally, Biden clarified on the social media platform X, writing, “His demonisations of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say.”
The rhetoric drew swift criticism from Republicans, who recalled Hillary Clinton’s 2016 remark about Trump’s base belonging to a “basket of deplorables.”
Meanwhile, the Harris-Walz campaign released a campaign ad responding to Hinchcliffe’s comment, spotlighting the federal response to Hurricane Maria in 2017.
In the ad, Harris narrated, “I will never forget what Donald Trump did. He abandoned the island and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Pressed on whether he owed Puerto Rico an apology, Trump distanced himself from Hinchcliffe. Addressing the controversy while seated in the garbage truck, he said, “I don’t know anything about a comedian. I heard he made a statement, but it’s a statement that he made. He’s a comedian. What can I tell you?”
Trump also used the opportunity to defend his record with Puerto Rico, claiming, “Nobody has done more for Puerto Rico than me.
I took care of them when they had the big hurricanes. Nobody gets along better with Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people than me. They love me, and I love them.”
In a recent statement, Hinchcliffe defended his controversial remark as a joke, though it has drawn criticism from both parties.
The MAGA-adorned garbage truck joined Trump’s motorcade as it went to his rally in Green Bay, where the former president was scheduled to address supporters later that evening.
