Trump — who, unlike Harris, has recently called his political opponents “garbage” in public — was on hand to exploit the misstep with a photo op, climbing into a garbage truck at an airport in Wisconsin and answering questions from reporters.

The row started over the weekend when a warm-up speaker at a Trump rally called the US territory of Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage,” in remarks that initially put the Republican campaign on the defensive.

Yet Biden’s gaffe provided Trump the opportunity to play the victim.

“How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden,” Trump said from the cabin of the vehicle.

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

But as Republicans voiced outrage over Biden’s remarks, anti-Trump political group The Lincoln Project shared a video from the Republican’s September 7 rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin — verified by AFP — in which he called “the people that surround” the vice president “garbage.”

Trump had just attacked Harris over employment figures before he said: “And it’s not her, it’s the people that surround her. They’re scum. They’re scum, and they want to take down our country. They are absolute garbage.”

Harris meanwhile traveled to North Carolina and onward to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, focusing again on three of seven battleground states that could determine who wins the closest election in modern US history.

In Madison, Wisconsin she told supporters: “Folks are exhausted and want it to stop, the pointing fingers. It is time that we start locking arms together as a people who rise and fall together.”

More than 57 million have already cast their ballots via early or mail-in voting, over a third of the 2020 total.

– ‘Unstable, obsessed’ –

Trump — who has 34 felony convictions for crimes connected to the 2016 election — is expected to reject Tuesday’s result if he loses.

The Republican is already seizing on commonplace verification processes by election officials to amplify his claims of widespread “cheating.”

Harris meanwhile was forced to fend off questions about Biden’s gaffe, which came when the president reacted to a comedian at a Trump rally referring to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage.”

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

“Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” said Harris, Biden’s vice president.

In North Carolina, Harris hammered home her campaign’s message to “turn the page” on Trump, leading the crowd in chants of “we are not going back!”

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

– ‘Cheating’ claims –

In Washington, Harris had spoken at the very spot where Trump stirred up a mob that went on to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a violent attempt to keep him in power even though he lost the 2020 election to Biden.

Trump has taken to social media to repeat his claims of voter fraud, appearing to set the stage for a repeat performance around the unfounded claim that his 2020 loss to Biden was rigged.

He denounced what he said was “cheating” at “large-scale levels never seen before” in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

At his North Carolina rally, Trump again cast doubt on the fairness of voting machines and called for a return to paper ballots.

His campaign on Wednesday made a fresh plea for campaign donations by referencing Biden’s comments.

But one person who will not be voting for Trump on November 5 will be actor and former Republican governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, who endorsed Harris.

“Rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets,” he said of Trump.

Inflation and the economy have been key issues this election, and on Wednesday new data showed solid economic growth despite a slight slowdown.

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© Agence France-Presse