Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday evening was supposed to provide his closing argument against Kamala Harris. Instead, Trump and his supporters are being forced to answer for hateful and racist rhetoric delivered from the podium Sunday night with just eight days left in the campaign.
“My reaction is that was a combination of 1933 Germany, 1939 Madison Square Garden last night,” former Trump adviser Anthony Scaramucci said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, referring to the infamous Nazi rally that was held at the Garden in 1939. “What you saw last night is a divisive America. That’s race-baiting. It’s all the things that we were doing in the ’30s and ’40s.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) called Sunday night’s event a “hate rally.”
“This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally. I think it’s important for people to understand these are mini Jan. 6 rallies, these are mini Stop the Steal rallies,” she said on “Morning Joe.”
The comment that drew the most ire was a line from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Last night, Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, up for reelection this year in a state heavily populated with Puerto Ricans, wrote on social media that the “joke bombed for a reason,” and “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans!”
Scott’s fellow Floridian, Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar, was also quick to condemn the comedian. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values,” she wrote in a post on X Sunday evening.
Early Monday morning, the Harris campaign was quick to jump in, highlighting headlines in 17 newspapers, eight clips from TV shows, and 29 other statements from politicians, celebrities and journalists.
Hinchcliffe’s comments on Puerto Rico are not the only ones receiving backlash from the rally. He made a crude remark about “carving watermelons” after seeing a Black man in the audience. And another opener, businessman Grant Cardone, likened Harris’ advisers to “pimp handlers.”
Last night, the Trump campaign was quick to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s set. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
In a social media post, Hinchcliffe accused those reacting negatively to his performance of having “no sense of humor.” “I love Puerto Rico and vacation there,” he said on X in response to comments from Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. “I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set.”
Democratic New Jersey congressional candidate Nellie Pou, who is Puerto Rican, said the rally was reminiscent of Trump’s widely criticized handling of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island in 2017.
“These words are a warning of how he would treat Puerto Ricans if he were to set foot again in the White House,” she wrote on X.
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