By JILL COLVIN and MICHELLE L. PRICE
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump staged a rally filled with crude and racist insults at New York’s Madison Square Garden, turning what his campaign had called the event at which he would deliver his final message into an illustration of what turns off his critics.
With just over a week before Election Day, speakers at the rally Sunday night labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” dubbed Democratic Vice President. Kamala Harris “the devil,” and said the woman vying to become the first black and female president had started her career as a prostitute.
‘I don’t know if you know this, but there is literally a floating waste island in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said Tony Hinchcliffe, a stand-up comedian whose set also included lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and black people, all key constituencies in the election just nine days away.
His joke was immediately criticized by Harris’ campaign for competing with Trump Winning over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny endorsed Harris shortly after Hinchcliffe’s appearance.
Tony Hinchcliffe arrives to speak for Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The normally combative Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
But other speakers also made inflammatory comments. Trump’s childhood friend David Rem called Harris “the antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris “and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.”
David Rem speaks for former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The big event reflected the former president’s tone during his third campaign in the White House. Although he did not do so on Sunday, Trump often attacks Harris offensive and personal terms himself, questioning her mental stability and intelligence in recent weeks and calling her “lazy,” long a racist trope used against black people.
The event was a surreal spectacle that included former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, politicians including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Reps. Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik, and an artist who painted a picture of Trump hugging the Empire State Building.
And that was all before Trump was scheduled to take the stage, delayed by more than two hours.
After being introduced by his wife, Melania TrumpIn a rare public appearance, the former president began by asking the same questions he has asked at the start of every recent meeting: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The audience responded with a resounding “No!”
“These elections are a choice between whether we will have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we will enter the best years in the history of our country,” he said.
Trump announced a new tax break for health care providers
Trump added a new proposal on Sunday his list of tax cuts aimed at winning over older adults and workers, which already includes promises to end taxes on Social Security benefits, tips and overtime: a tax credit for caregivers.
This comes after Harris spoke about the ‘sandwich generation’ of adults caring for elderly parents while raising their children. Harris has proposed federal funding to cover the cost of home care for older Americans.
Trump repeated otherwise familiar lines on foreign policy and immigration, calling for the death penalty for any migrant who kills a U.S. citizen and saying that the day he takes office “the invasion of migrants into our country will end.”
An hour into Trump’s comments, some of the crowd began to trickle out.
Tech mogul Elon Musk, who spoke earlier and introduced Melania Trump, was a prominent part of Trump’s closing campaign message. The former president called Musk “a genius” and “special.”
Musk nodded to Trump’s recent plan to allow him to head a government efficiency commission to oversee the entire federal government. Several of Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, have major government contracts or rely on US subsidies, and Musk has faced criticism after reports that he spoke privately with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Your money is being wasted and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that,” Musk said before taking a seat next to Melania Trump offstage.
Many of the speakers appeared on stage at the Republican National Convention on Sunday. This time the same speakers shouted and rants even more at the Democrats.
Hogan, who returned to the venue where he performed as a professional wrestler years ago, appeared to reprise his character, emerging wearing a giant red, orange and yellow boa and violently waving a large American flag as he posed and danced. He spat on stage during his speech, flexed his muscles repeatedly and told the audience, “Trump is the only man who can fix this country today.”
Trump allies went after Democrats for organizing a pro-Nazi rally
Some Democrats, Call Trump a fascist, have compared his Sunday event to a pro-Nazi rally in the garden in February 1939. Several speakers on Sunday tore into Hillary Clinton, the Democrat defeated by Trump eight years ago, for recently saying Trump would “reenact” the 1939 event. One of them, radio host Sid Rosenberg, insulted Clinton.
“Hey guys, they’re scrambling now and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, who draped a sparkly “MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ‘And do you know what they say, boys? It’s very scary. They claim we are going after them and trying to put them in jail. Well, isn’t that rich?’
Hogan declared in his raspy growl, “I don’t see any stinkin’ Nazis here.”
Trump has dismissed the four criminal charges against him as politically motivated. He has staged his denunciations in recent weeks of “enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals and suggesting he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has done so referred to Trump as a fascist.
The arena was packed for hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were packed with Trump supporters wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were closed and access to Penn Station was restricted.
“It just shows you that he has a bigger following than any man who ever lived,” said Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump supporter from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up.
A New Yorker returns home
Rudy Giuliani speaks before Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, speaks during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump has a complicated history with the place where he built his business empire that made him a tabloid and reality TV star. Residents charged him last year with 34 counts of falsifying company records. He was found guilty in that case and also held liable in civil court for corporate fraud and sexual abuse.
But Trump has talked about wanting to hold a rally at the venue dubbed “The World’s Most Famous Arena” since he launched his campaign.
The meeting was one of a number of detours Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California, and rallies on the Jersey Shore and in the South Bronx.
While some have dismissed the stops as nothing more than vanity events designed to boost Trump’s ego, the rallies guaranteed Trump national coverage that could help him reach the country’s few remaining undecided voters, many of whom cannot get their news through traditional channels.
New York hasn’t voted for a Republican as president in forty years. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from insisting he believes he can win. New York is also home to a handful of competitive congressional races that could determine which party controls the House of Representatives next year.
Trump routinely uses his hometown as a foil for audiences in other states, painting a dark vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He calls it a crime-ridden area overrun by violent immigrant gangs that have taken over Fifth and Madison Avenues and occupied Times Square.
On Sunday, however, Trump was much more complimentary about the city. He said “no city more embodies the spirit” and energy of the American people and talked about attending basketball and hockey games at the Garden.
After Trump ended his speech after more than an hour, opera singer Christopher Macchio came on stage to sing the song “New York, New York.”
The former president smiled and waved slightly as his wife stood next to him on stage.
Originally published: October 28, 2024 at 11:28 am