In a recent campaign rally in Wisconsin, former President Donald Trump staged a stunt by riding in a garbage truck to mock President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. This came in response to Biden’s comments in which he called Trump supporters "garbage."
The episode quickly became the topic of memes, both supportive of Trump and, to some extent, mocking. Even billionaire Elon Musk, who has been a vocal Trump supporter in this election season, opined in his favor by terming the response as “Genius-level trolling!!”.
A user wrote, “Trump telling the story of the garbage truck and the orange vest on stage is absolutely hilarious. He’s a billionaire with the instincts and timing of a standup comedian. He’s 100% American-made.”
Another user jokingly said, "It is called garbage can, not garbage cannot".
Another meme describes Harris' reaction as she switched on the TV.
Trump supporters have embraced their identity.
Garbage memes are getting out of hands.
The incident has already influenced Halloween costumes.
However, not all comments were in support of Trump. Some opponents used the occasion to poke fun at him.
A user wrote, "Donald Trump has been peddling garbage for decades, so it’s only natural that he’d do a photo op in a trash truck."
Another user added, "Trump proving that he is far too old to be president. not only does he struggle repeatedly to open the door of a truck, he's so confused he seems to have forgotten that the garbage belongs in the back."
Meanwhile, a user said, "Trump can't even open a garage truck door, but that's because he belongs in the back w/the other trash, not in the passenger seat."
Biden's comments
The context of Trump's garbage truck ordeal is comments made by President Biden during a Zoom meeting on October 29, 2024. After comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke, where he called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage," Biden replied, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters," which led to criticism from the republican party and media sources.
The White House later on sought to excuse Biden by stating that his comments were directed at Hinchcliffe’s joke and not at Trump’s supporters as a whole since according to the transcript, Biden was referring to supporters in relation to the comedian's comments.
Trump's response
Taking advantage of this moment, Trump put on his performance. He decided to show up in a garbage truck painted with his name on October 30, 2024. He was also wearing a safety jacket indicating he was on a garbage collection duty at Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport. Craning his neck out of the passenger window, he quipped to the reporters,
“How do you like my garbage truck? This is in honour of Kamala and Joe Biden”.
A memorable entrance
The garbage truck played several roles: it was both a part of the performance and a substantiation of his message about noncompliance with what he sees as elitist attitudes on the part of the Democratic leadership.
Speaking to the press from inside a refuse vehicle, Trump compared Biden’s comments to Hillary Clinton’s famous statement of referring to half of Trump’s supporters as a "basket of deplorable" arguing that such statements could be detrimental to Biden.
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In the rally, he repeated the same orange vest, [saying] he had only been driven in the garbage truck for two feet before transferring to another vehicle. He backed his assertion by saying:
“You can’t be president if you hate Americans — and I think they do.”
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