Former presidential candidate-turned-Trump stump Vivek Ramaswamy said he wanted to turn President Biden’s “really disgusting” comment that supporters of the former president are “garbage” into a “positive moment” — so he rode in the back of a garbage truck in North Carolina Wednesday.
“I thought we could use what was, I think, a really disgusting and somewhat ugly and divisive comment from President Biden to create a positive moment out of this,” Ramaswamy told The Post in a phone interview on Thursday.
The bio-tech millionaire arrived at a Charlotte campaign event for Donald Trump decked out in a T-shirt featuring Oscar the Grouch in a trash bin and wearing a yellow vest — eager to tell voters about Biden’s Tuesday night insult.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” Biden had said on a campaign call in response to comic Tony Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday.
Ramaswamy said the idea of arriving on a garbage truck in North Carolina came to him independently of Trump riding in a “big beautiful” MAGA garbage truck when he arrived in Wisconsin for a rally Wednesday.
“We were motivated by the same love of the people of this country. And so that’s just one of many instances where you’ll see multiple leaders in our movement arrive at similar concepts in real-time at the same time,” he said.
“And I think that organic, authentic and often even spontaneous nature of our movement reflects a positive, pro-American hive mind in our own growing movement. And I think that’s a big part of what MAGA and America First is all about.”
Ramaswamy, 39, also said he spoke to the garbage truck driver, Leo, who told him he felt “personally insulted” and “hurt” by Biden’s remark and that he cared about prices being up under the Harris-Biden administration.
Riding in the truck and speaking to Leo, the one-time presidential candidate said, made him gain a “greater appreciation for the profession” because of the safety risks involved and the “judgment and discretion” that goes into the job.
At the same time, the garbage truck moment wasn’t an attempt to be something that he’s not, Ramaswamy said.
“We don’t try to pretend like we’re something we’re not. You know, Trump arrived at his event on his private plane, and I arrived in mine,” Ramaswamy said. “I think that we just do whatever we need to do to get the job done. And it’s not that we’re trying to — I think it’s one thing if you’re saying you’re trying to pretend to be something that you’re not.
“Actually, to the contrary. I don’t care whether you’re, you know, the owner of a private jet or the operator or driver of a dump truck. We’re all equal as Americans, as fellow citizens. And I think that’s what our side sees versus the Democratic side.”
The Ohio native also said he thinks there are members of the Biden family who may want to secretly upend Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign since the 81-year-old president was convinced to drop his 2024 bid.
Biden made the “garbage” comment during Harris’ closing argument speech in Washington, DC, stealing the news cycle from her from around 1,000 feet away in the White House.
“I do think that there are almost certainly members of Biden’s family, maybe one has already been very close to him, that on a personal level would have some level of schadenfreude that they would enjoy experiencing after a couple areas loses this election because they feel like they were mistreated,” he said, musing that the Biden moment had “a certain poetic justice to it.”
Biden backpedaled his remark, saying on X he was referring to Hinchcliffe and that “his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say.”
The White House attempted to claim Biden’s comment had an apostrophe in “supporters,” meaning the “garbage” was possessive.
“I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris said in response to Biden’s dig on the tarmac next to Air Force Two on Wednesday.
