Former President Donald Trump staged a theatrical response to President Joe Biden’s recent controversial remarks by arriving at a Wisconsin airport in a decorated garbage truck, transforming a political slight into campaign imagery.
Trump, wearing an orange safety vest, was greeted at the Wisconsin airport on October 30, 2024, by what he called a “big, beautiful MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN Garbage Truck.” The former president sat in the passenger seat of the MAGA-adorned vehicle as it cruised around the tarmac. “How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump asked reporters. “This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
The theatrical display came in response to President Biden’s recent campaign call where he referred to Trump supporters as “garbage” while denouncing derogatory comments made by a Trump-supporting comedian about Puerto Rico. The White House later attempted to clarify Biden’s remarks, with the president stating he was specifically referring to the comedian’s controversial statement, not Trump’s supporters.
The incident drew immediate comparisons from Republicans to Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment during the 2016 presidential campaign. “250 million people are not garbage,” Trump declared in response to Biden’s remarks.
During the garbage truck appearance, Trump defended his record regarding Puerto Rico, stating, “Nobody has done more for Puerto Rico than me.” The decorated garbage truck joined Trump’s motorcade en route to his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The political theater garnered attention from late-night television, with Jimmy Kimmel noting the irony of conservatives’ outrage over Biden’s “garbage” comment while pointing out that Trump himself frequently refers to “America as a garbage can multiple times a day.”
The controversy has sparked reactions from Latino community figures, with several celebrities voicing support for Vice President Kamala Harris.