People are freaking out about the speech that Donald Trump gave in front of a wall of garbage

Maxwell Tani

Jun 29, 2016, 00:41 IST

Twitter/Fox News

Donald Trump during a June 28 speech in Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump just delivered a major economic policy speech at a factory in Pennsylvania.

But while the location was intended to convey the real-estate mogul's seriousness about revitalizing American manufacturing industries, observers were at first a bit distracted by the backdrop that was directly behind Trump.

Indeed, for over a half an hour, Trump spoke at length about his protectionist trade policies while perched in front of several compacted blocks of recycling, which took up much of the screen on the major cable networks that carried the speech.

Observers on Twitter were quick to point out the bizarre staging.

Nothing says declare independence from the elites like that backdrop https://t.co/UP9P2YZ1hV
- Domenico Montanaro (@DomenicoNPR) June 28, 2016

Just turned on the TV: Is Trump giving this speech inside a giant trash compactor? pic.twitter.com/FFEn5KtH0t
- Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) June 28, 2016

Garbage speech https://t.co/MvXRmAdLWe
- Brett LoGiurato (@BrettLoGiurato) June 28, 2016

Is this backdrop advance success or failure? pic.twitter.com/nJpAxMlN45
- Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) June 28, 2016

That staging is complete rubbish
- Dan Eggen (@DanEggenWPost) June 28, 2016

EXCLUSIVE: Footage of Trump's advance team setting up the backdrop for today's speech. pic.twitter.com/E6A5FpMwsT
- Aaron Earls (@WardrobeDoor) June 28, 2016

Staffer 1: So just whatever you do, don't put him in front of a giant pile of garbage.

Staffer 2: Got it. pic.twitter.com/1zjzNEnLoy
- Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) June 28, 2016

Well what message do we want the setting to communicate to voters?
"Garbage"
*snaps* I know just the thing pic.twitter.com/7E8CNYgpO1
- Will Ritter (@MrWillRitter) June 28, 2016

Some observers saw some parallels to Trump's plan to build a wall along the Southern US border.