Watch: Trump hits back at President Biden's comment by riding a garbage truck

Former President Donald Trump, known for his quick wit, climbed into a garbage truck wearing an orange safety vest to seize the opportunity to criticise President Joe Biden’s recent remarks. The former president took the opportunity to draw attention to Biden’s comments, which likened his supporters to “garbage.”

“How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump quipped, seated in a garbage truck emblazoned with “Make America Great Again” and his own name, as he answered questions from reporters. Sporting the bright safety vest over his usual white dress shirt and red tie, he added, “This is in honour of Kamala and Joe Biden.”

Trump, also once again distanced himself from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's remarks and, dismissed any need to address the Puerto Rico joke directly. “I don’t know anything about the comedian,” he said from the garbage truck. “I’ve never seen him. He’s a comedian—what can I tell you?”

During the rally held shortly after this, Trump joked about his reluctance to wear the orange vest, which his team had encouraged. “I said, NO WAY!” Trump recounted. “But they said, ‘Okay, sir… but if you did, it actually makes you look thinner.’ THEY GOT ME. I said I want to wear it on stage.” The former president appeared delighted with the crowd’s response, offering reporters a final send-off: “I hope you enjoyed this garbage truck. Thank you very much.”

The back-and-forth stemmed from Tony Hinchcliffe's comments who, during Trump's MSG rally, called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.” The comments drew widespread criticism, particularly from Democrats, and initially placed Trump and his allies on the defensive. However, the situation took a new turn when Biden, on a Wednesday call, made a comment that “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” Although Biden later clarified that he was referring to Trump’s divisive rhetoric and not to the supporters themselves, the damage had already been done.

Trump capitalised on the comment, portraying it as further evidence of what he believes to be the Democrats’ low opinion of his voter base. Vice President Kamala Harris, however, quickly distanced herself from Biden’s statement, expressing disagreement with any personal attacks on voters based on political preference. “Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris stated in response to reporters’ questions during her campaign stops in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

This stunt comes as the 2024 presidential campaign intensifies, with both Trump and Biden traversing key battleground states. Harris, working to distance her campaign from Biden’s gaffe, delivered her own message in North Carolina, saying, “This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge,” while leading the crowd in chants of “We are not going back!”