Trump prolongs uproar over Puerto Rico slur by driving garbage truck

Donald Trump got off his private plane in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Wednesday evening and, donning a bright orange safety vest, got into a garbage truck in an attempt to troll Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

With election day looming, both the Republican and Democratic candidates are hoping to leverage the racist comments made against Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday when a comedian called the US territory “a floating island of garbage.”

The truck was emblazoned with the Trump campaign logo and with the former president leaning out of the window similarly to his McDonald’s photo-op, he asked the press: “How do you like my garbage truck?”

He added that it was “in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden” and proceeded to say the president “should be ashamed of himself” and that “she should never have let it happen” referring to Biden’s verbal flub on Tuesday night.

The president stumbled over his words while on a call causing a brouhaha over what was actually said, with the Trump campaign claiming he had called their supporters garbage and the White House saying that Biden had said he was referring to the comedian’s demonization of Latinos.

Trump’s garbage truck stunt might have gone better had he not spoken to reporters about the comedian, the comment, and Puerto Rico, while leaning from the vehicle’s window, prolonging the scandal over the remarks.

“I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump told reporters. “I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you. I know nothing about him.”

Jake Rosen of CBS News asked the former president if he owed Puerto Rico an apology, to which he replied: “I love Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico loves me.”

He continued: “Nobody’s done more for Puerto Rico than me. I took care of them when they had the two hurricanes. And nobody gets along better with Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people than me. They love me and I love them.”

Sunday’s remarks caused outrage throughout the Puerto Rican community, with prominent members endorsing Harris and condemning Trump. Reggaeton star Nicky Jam who had endorsed the former president has rescinded his support, saying: “Puerto Rico deserves respect.”

What was not lost on commentators was that Trump has recently also taken to describing the whole of the US as the “garbage can of the world” when talking about immigration.

Former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin ran through how she felt the Republican candidate’s outing went in a post on X: “Is it an effective stunt? No. He’s assuming voters hear “garbage” & think of Biden’s gaffe.. but Trump campaign’s Puerto Rico debacle is much deeper in the zeitgeist. A total fail.”

She added: “Trump platforms offensive joke leading to days of outrage; Trump tries to clean it up on Fox; Biden steps in it, unintentionally gives Trump a lifeline; Trump’s genius campaign: ‘Let’s remind everyone we offended Puerto Ricans & called America garbage by driving a garbage truck!’”

Tommy Vietor, a former staffer for Barack Obama, called out Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita directly saying it was a “genius plan” to keep “the Puerto Rican joke controversy in the news for another day”.

Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch.com, was similarly impressed, recalling when the former president infamously threw paper towels to hurricane survivors in the US territory: “The plan for the day for the Trump campaign was to have Trump talk about the Puerto Rico controversy from a garbage truck? Because that’s what happened. Nice optics. All we are missing is the paper towels.”

Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika posted: “The candidate who called America a ‘trash can’; Whose rally called Puerto Rico ‘garbage’; Is riding around in a garbage truck for fun. Is this an in-kind donation to @KamalaHQ?”

The stunt also raised questions about Trump’s health given he still hasn’t released any medical report with less than a week to go before the election.

Video footage of the former president approaching the truck shows him failing to grip the door handle twice and stumbling slightly before pulling himself up toward the vehicle.

In an odd move the same clip was used by Sean Hannity on his Fox News show, when he called the moment “epic,” and by the network’s social media accounts.

Over on MSNBC, host Alex Wagner described the whole episode as her five-year-old’s dream: “What happens when you get old and you’re a guy? You get to do that all day — drive the garbage truck around.”

Perhaps that is Trump’s dream. Early in his presidency, he was photographed having a great time sitting in the driver’s seat of a semi-truck outside the White House at an event for truckers and CEOs.

Several months later he was again pictured in a truck at the White House, this time a fire truck manufactured by Wisconsin-based Pierce, for a Made in America event.

The latest stunt wasn’t over when Trump got out of the truck. He wore the neon orange safety vest throughout his rally in Green Bay.

Menswear expert Derek Guy tweeted: “I recommend not wearing vests in the same color as your face.”