Former US President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the Presidential Elections 2024, boarded a campaign-themed garbage truck in Wisconsin, seizing on President Joe Biden's remarks in which he suggested that Trump's supporters are “garbage”.
“How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honour of Kamala and Joe Biden,” Trump said from the passenger seat, which featured a Trump campaign sticker and flag.
His campaign staff widely circulated event photos as photographers captured the moment.
Trump and other Republicans were facing pushback of their own for comments by a comedian at a weekend Trump rally who disparaged Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
But Biden's call that “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters” helped redeem Trump's campaign. The president tried to clarify the comment afterwards, saying he had intended to say Trump's demonization of Latinos was unconscionable. But it was too late.
On Thursday, after arriving in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for an evening rally, Trump climbed into the garbage truck, carrying on a brief discussion with reporters while looking out the window — similar to what he did earlier this month during a photo opportunity he staged at a Pennsylvania McDonalds.
“I love Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico loves me,” Trump said from the garbage truck, as he ended the brief appearance by telling reporters: “I hope you enjoyed this garbage truck. Thank you very much.”
Meanwhile, Trump again tried to distance himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke had set off a firestorm, but Trump did not denounce it. He also said he did not need to apologize to Puerto Ricans.
“I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. “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.”
A spokesperson for Trump said the joke doesn't reflect his views, but the former president has not addressed it himself.
(With AP inputs)
