There was an avalanche of depraved rhetoric at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, though one quote stood out: A comedian supporting the former president described Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage,” which did not go over well — especially among Puerto Rican voters.
A couple of days later, President Joe Biden commented on the controversy, telling a group of Latino voters, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
An exasperating fight over an apostrophe soon followed, as Trump, his allies, his party, and conservative media feigned outrage and seized on the comments as a sequel to Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” line from eight years ago.
Vice President Kamala Harris — who, unlike the incumbent president, is actually on the ballot this year — quickly distanced herself from the quote Republicans pretended to be offended by, telling reporters, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they voted for.”
Trump nevertheless tried to milk the faux controversy, appearing in a Trump-branded garbage truck, holding a rally while wearing a garbage collector’s vest, and promoting images of himself wearing the outfit.
Subtle, it was not.
The theatrics were exasperating and desperate, but after the former president’s garbage-focused campaign rally, he managed to publish something interesting to his social media platform. It was a straightforward, 20-word message, published in all caps, which I’ve transposed to make it easier to read: “You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans — and you can’t be president if you hate the American people!”
Oddly enough, the assertion was rather compelling. It was also self-defeating.
In fact, if the 2024 race comes down to which candidate has done more to condemn Americans, the GOP ticket should probably expect to lose 50 states.
One of the things that makes Trump unique as a political figure is his willingness to condemn his own country. Voters have seen and heard him slam the United States as a “failing nation,” a “nation in decline,” “evil,” and more recently, a “garbage can.” Reminded during a recent interview that America is a great country, Trump said he disagreed. But the Republican candidate has been equally eager to disparage Americans he disagrees with. They’re “the enemy within.” They’re “evil.” They’re “horrible people.” They’re “scum.” In 2018, referring to roughly half of his country’s electorate, he declared, “I got to tell you, anybody that votes for a Democrat now is crazy.” On Veterans Day 2023, Trump went so far as to publish an online message vowing to “root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country.” A few months later, the GOP candidate likened Americans who oppose him to the foreign enemies that the United States fought in World War II. “You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans”? Does this mean that Trump is ending his candidacy?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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