Why did Donald Trump dress as a garbage truck operator in Wisconsin?

Wearing an orange reflective safety vest, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stepped off a Boeing 757, crossed a rain-soaked tarmac, and climbed - after twice missing the handle - into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck.

A former reality TV star known for his showmanship, Trump wanted to draw attention to a remark made a day earlier by his successor, US President Joe Biden, which suggested that the former president’s supporters were “garbage.” Trump used the comment against his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump asked, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white shirt and red tie.

“This is in honour of Kamala and Joe Biden,” he added.

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What is the ‘garbage’ controversy?

The row began over the weekend when a warm-up speaker, Tony Hinchcliffe, at a Trump rally called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.” Initially, this put the Republican campaign on the defensive.

However, Biden’s gaffe created an opening for Trump to claim victimhood.

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said before the White House clarified he was referring to Trump’s rhetoric, not his supporters.

Biden’s comment quickly drew criticism from Trump and other Republicans, who saw it as an attack on all Trump supporters. Trump’s campaign distanced itself from Hinchcliffe’s remarks but swiftly capitalised on Biden’s statement to criticise him.

Trump joined the controversy by stepping into a garbage truck on the campaign trail in Wisconsin, shouting, “Biden should be ashamed of himself.”

Later, in a statement on X, Biden wrote “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don’t reflect who we are as a nation.”

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Kamala Harris distances herself

On Wednesday, Harris had hoped to enjoy the success of a large White House speech attended by tens of thousands, where she warned that her rival was a danger and sought unchecked power.

Instead, she found herself facing questions about Biden’s recent gaffe.

Before leaving Washington, DC, to campaign in key swing states, Harris addressed Biden’s remarks , stating that he had already taken steps to “clarify his comments.”

“Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” she said.

While responding to a question from BBC, she stated that, if elected next Tuesday, she would be “a president for all Americans, including those that don’t vote for me.”

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Trump’s ‘garbage truck’ move

On Thursday, after arriving in Green Bay for an evening rally, Trump made a scene by climbing into the garbage truck, giving reporters a brief statement while looking out of the window - similar to that of a recent photo-op he staged at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.

“You can’t be president if you hate the American people, which I believe they do,” he later told the rally crowd in Green Bay, still wearing his high-visibility vest.

Although Trump again sought to distance himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose joke initially sparked the controversy, he stopped short of condemning the remarks and said he saw no reason to apologise to Puerto Ricans.

“I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump commented.

“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.”

Concluding his brief interaction with reporters, he said, “I hope you enjoyed this garbage truck. Thank you very much.”

A short time later, he appeared on stage, still wearing the orange vest.

Harris’ ‘unstable, obsessed’ charge

Trump, who has 34 felony convictions connected to the 2016 election, is widely expected to contest Tuesday’s result if he loses.

Already, he has been using standard verification procedures by election officials to support his claims of widespread “cheating.”

In North Carolina, Harris reinforced her campaign’s message to “turn the page” on Trump, leading the crowd to chant, “We are not going back!”

“This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power,” Harris stated.

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‘Cheating’ allegations resurface

In Washington, Harris spoke from the same location where, on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump incited a mob that went on to storm the US Capitol in a violent attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Biden.

Trump has since taken to social media to repeat claims of voter fraud, appearing to set the stage for a potential replay of his allegations that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

He claimed “cheating” on a “large-scale, never-seen-before” level in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state.

At a rally in North Carolina, Trump once again questioned the integrity of voting machines, calling for a return to paper ballots.

Meanwhile, his campaign issued a fresh appeal for donations, citing Biden’s recent comments as a rallying cry.

One person who will not be supporting Trump on November 5 is actor and former Republican governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has endorsed Harris. “Rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets,” he said, criticising Trump.

The election

Inflation and the economy have emerged as central election issues. New data on Wednesday showed strong economic growth, though at a slightly slower pace.

As the race nears the finish line, polls show a close contest. A Reuters/Ipsos survey on Tuesday placed Harris at 44% and Trump at 43% among registered voters nationally, within the poll’s margin of error. Other polls show similarly close margins in the seven battleground states set to determine the outcome on November 5.

With tensions escalating, election workers in competitive states are preparing for possible violence. Authorities in Florida recently arrested a man for threatening voters with a machete.

Polarisation in the US has deepened distrust between political groups. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll from March, about 38% of Republicans said they saw the Democratic Party as an “imminent threat” to the US, while 41% of Democrats said the same of Republicans.

With inputs from agencies