Political fortunes can change swiftly, especially at the bitter end of a contentious election. One day, a candidate might be at the top of the heap; the next, they’re down in the dumps.
Even so, the final week of this election in particular has been—and there’s simply no other way to put it—a real garbage roller coaster. (Whee?)
Fresh off of Donald Trump calling the U.S. “a garbage can for the world,” last Friday a speaker at his Sunday rally joked that Puerto Rico is “a floating island of garbage.” Not only did superstars like Bad Bunny shout out support for Kamala Harris in response, they also explained exactly what compelled them to do so.
But then on Tuesday, during a Zoom call with advocacy group Voto Latino, President Joe Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” turning Trump’s PR crisis into opportunity. In true seesaw fashion, however, Trump’s attempt to spin gold out of his former opponent’s gaffe may have just ignited a brand-new dumpster fire.
After nearly a full day of Trump-friendly media drumming up outrage around Biden’s remarks, the candidate showed up for a Wisconsin rally . . . in a Trump-branded garbage truck, wearing a blinding orange safety vest, which he sported throughout the entire rally.
Perhaps it was meant to keep people talking about Biden’s insult, deflect attention from the Puerto Rico joke—which Trump has tried to distance himself from without apology—and reclaim “garbage” in much the same way his supporters branded themselves Deplorables after Hillary Clinton’s regretful line during the 2016 election. The stunt was also sort of, uh, recycling the playful contrast between Trump’s usual posh suits and the uniform he wore during a recent photo op at McDonald’s, which earned him loads of positive media coverage.
But there’s a thin line between playfully poking fun at your image and plastering your campaign logo on a functioning garbage truck. Trump just unloaded a mountain of trash on that line.
While some of his more ardent supporters seem to be on board with the truck stunt, it was widely mocked online. Unlike the McDonald’s gambit, which also courted memeability, this one went beyond gentle self-deprecation and even self-parody right into the realm of self-ridicule. Regardless of the context, likening the Trump campaign to a garbage truck and its contents didn’t effectively punish Harris in any way; it did her work for her.
Biden triggered Trump into dressing up as a garbage truck driver, and then drive around in a "Trump MAGA" branded garbage truck.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) October 31, 2024
Think about that lol. That's some epic level shit.
He’s just out on the tarmac having someone drive him around in circles. Why do I feel like this will become the defining meme for his entire campaign? pic.twitter.com/WrESaWJ6cN
— Hey, Dave! (@davegreenidge57) October 30, 2024
Social media users also seized on Trump’s appearance. Perhaps the hue of his safety vest was too bright, reflecting strangely on his face. Or maybe he’d slathered on a touch too much bronzer. Either way, TikTokers and X users quickly began to describe his appearance as Oompa Loompa-esque.
Donald Trump cosplayed an Oompa Loompa AND garbage-truck operator https://t.co/h5FpRW1j7S pic.twitter.com/GnZhVsKb4s
— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@KaiseratCB) October 31, 2024
Okay, who made this? pic.twitter.com/Jm5ZxQ9MZi
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) October 31, 2024
Comedian Brent Terhune, whose TikToks about Trump have been going viral for years, quickly got in on the action. He donned a neon-yellow garbage vest—the color Trump should have probably opted for—and created a video commemorating the occasion. In his signature Southern drawl, he spoke as the proud driver of “Garbage Force One,” reflecting on his sacred duty.
A couple million views later, Garbage Force One began trending on X.
He drove Trump’s garbage truck pic.twitter.com/IVR7PQPJLn
— Brent Terhune in Milwaukee 11.29-30 (@BrentTerhune) October 31, 2024
If the only fallout from the stunt amounted to a bunch of jokes besmirching the quality and odor of Trump’s campaign, it might not have been a total misfire. Making matters worse, however, the candidate appeared to have some physical difficulties walking up to and getting inside the truck. As clips of his staggered steps began to circulate, the jokes gave way to questions about Trump’s possibly declining health.
The former president can abide jokes about his appearance and penchant for showmanship. His critics have been making those since the dawn of his political career, and time after time he’s had the last laugh. But for an aspiring strongman, any sign whatsoever of apparent frailty can’t simply be laughed off. In this instance, clips of Trump struggling to get into a garbage truck circulated so much that by Thursday morning, VP candidate Tim Walz was talking about how Trump “damn near killed himself getting into a garbage truck” in a stump speech for Harris.
Biden’s garbage gaffe probably wasn’t destined to have a long shelf life beyond the Fox News faithful—mainly because Harris has distanced herself from it (and, frankly, has never said anything like it). Throughout her campaign, she has studiously avoided disparaging Trump’s supporters, ever mindful of how brutally Clinton’s Deplorables remark backfired. Just last week, when Fox News host Brett Baier asked whether she thought Trump’s supporters were “stupid” or “misguided,” she deftly pivoted to attacking Trump’s own divisive rhetoric.
Now Trump’s goofy effort to prolong the conversation around Biden’s remark may have instead pulled some focus from it. Plus, Trump’s obvious glee in creating a cheeky stunt out of the incident makes it difficult to believe he was actually offended by it in the way that, say, people like Aubrey Plaza were incensed by the Puerto Rico joke at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.
Whatever benefit the “garbage” comment may have given him, it’s now gone to waste.