New York, Oct 31
Giving up his tailored jacket for a neon orange trash collector's vest and his Cadillac Escalade for a garbage truck, Donald Trump is rousing his base by taking on a remark by President Joe Biden likening them to "garbage".
After the garbage truck event in Milwaukee, Trump continued wearing the trash collector vest, appearing in it at a rally there. He claimed that it showed what Biden and the Democrats thought of his supporters, stating they were "garbage." This choice of attire also served as a symbolic appeal to the working class, a significant part of his base. Earlier this month, he had donned an apron and fried chips at a McDonald's restaurant, even serving at its take-out counter. Biden had previously likened Trump's supporters to "garbage" during a heated exchange that was sparked by a comedian's joke at a Trump rally, which referred to Puerto Rico as an "island of floating garbage." Biden remarked, "The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable and un-American." This rhetoric echoed Hillary Clinton's comments during the 2016 race, when she described Trump's supporters as "deplorables," which alienated segments of the working class who viewed the Democratic Party as elitist. In response to the fallout, Democrats quickly moved into damage control mode. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump in next week's election, stated, "Let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for." Other Democrats joined in, with Representative Jared Golden posting on X that "any elected official or candidate who calls Americans or America 'garbage' is flat out wrong." Biden's remarks were reported while Harris held a large rally on the Ellipse in Washington, overshadowing its media coverage. He later clarified his comments on X, saying, "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." He added, "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." The White House explained that a missing apostrophe made Biden's statement offensive to Trump supporters; it should have been placed in "supporters" to indicate the joke rather than the supporters themselves. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe had made a series of derogatory jokes about various minorities, including the remark about Puerto Rico. Trump distanced himself from Hinchcliffe, stating, "I don't know him; someone put him up there. I don't know who he is." Senator Marco Rubio, a Latino Republican, defended Puerto Ricans on X, asserting that "Puerto Rico isn't garbage; it's home to fellow American citizens who have made tremendous contributions to our country." Meanwhile, Democrats amplified Hinchcliffe's comments to counteract Trump's increasing support among Latinos, which had risen from 27 percent in 2020 to 39 percent according to NBC polls.