Trump event at Madison Square Garden accompanied by crude and racist slurs

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump held a rally with crude and racial slurs at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday, turning what his campaign described as an event where he would deliver his final address into an illustration something that turns off his critics.

Just a week before the election, speakers called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” called Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris “the devil” and said the woman vying to become the first female and black female president had started her career. like a prostitute.

“I don’t know if you know this, but there’s literally a floating island of trash 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 blacks, all key constituencies in the election just nine days away.

His joke was immediately criticized by Harris’ campaign as he competes with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny supported Harris shortly after Hinchcliffe’s appearance.

Trump’s usually hawkish campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or his campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

But other speakers also made incendiary comments. Trump’s childhood friend David Rehm called Harris the “antichrist” and the “devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris “and her pimps will destroy our country.”

The momentous occasion reflected the former president’s tone throughout his third campaign for the White House. Although he refrained from doing so on Sunday, Trump himself has often lashed out at Harris in offensive and personal terms, questioning her mental stability and intelligence in recent weeks and calling her “lazy” – a long-racist trope used against black people.

The event was a surreal spectacle that included former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, television psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, politicians including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Representatives Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik, and artist who painted the picture. Trump hugging the Empire State Building.

And that was all before Trump had to take the stage, more than two hours late.

After being introduced by his wife Melania Trump during a rare public appearance, the former president began by asking the same questions he has asked at the start of every recent rally: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The crowd responded with a loud “No!”

“This election is a choice between whether we have four more years of gross incompetence and failure or whether we begin the greatest years in the history of our country,” he said.

Trump announces new tax benefit for caregivers

Trump on Sunday added a new proposal to his list of tax cuts aimed at winning over seniors and workers, which already includes promises to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, tips and overtime pay: a tax break for individuals caring for families.

This comes after Harris spoke about the “sandwich generation,” in which adults care for aging parents while raising their children. Harris has proposed federal funding to cover the cost of in-home care for older Americans.

Otherwise, Trump repeated familiar lines on foreign policy and immigration, calling for the death penalty for any migrant who kills a U.S. citizen and declaring that the day he takes office, “the migrant invasion of our country will end.”

When Trump spoke an hour later, some of the crowd began to disperse.

Tech mogul Elon Musk, who spoke earlier and introduced Melania Trump, was an important part of the Trump campaign’s final message. The former president called Musk a “genius” and “special.”

Musk nodded at Trump’s recent plan to let him lead a government efficiency commission to review the entire federal government. Some of Musk’s businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX, have large government contracts or rely on U.S. subsidies, and Musk has come under fire after reports that he spoke privately with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Your money is being wasted, and Government Efficiency is going to fix it,” Musk said before taking a seat backstage next to Melania Trump.

Many of Sunday’s speakers appeared on stage at the Republican National Convention. This time, the same speakers shouted and berated Democrats more.

Hogan, returning to the spot where he competed years ago as a professional wrestler, appeared to reprise his character, appearing in a giant red, orange and yellow boa and wildly waving a large American flag as he posed and danced. During his speech, he spat on stage, repeatedly flexed his muscles and told the audience: “Trump is the only person who can fix this country today.”

Trump allies target Democrats for organizing pro-Nazi rally

Some Democrats, calling Trump a fascist, compared his Sunday event to the pro-Nazi rally at the Garden in February 1939. “recreation” of the 1939 event. One of them, radio host Sid Rosenberg, insulted Clinton.

“Hey, guys, now they’re scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, who draped a glittery MAGA jacket over the podium during her speech. “And you guys know what they claim? It’s very scary. They claim that we are going to persecute them and try to put them in jail. Well, isn’t it so rich?

Hogan declared in his raspy growl, “I don’t see any stinking Nazis here.”

Trump has called the four criminal charges brought against him politically motivated. In recent weeks he has stepped up his accusations of “enemies from within”, naming domestic political rivals and suggesting he would use the army to go after them. Harris, in turn, called Trump a fascist.

The arena was packed hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were crowded with Trump supporters wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats. There was a strong security presence there. Streets were closed and access to Penn Station limited.

“It just goes to show you that he has more followers than any person who has ever lived,” said Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump supporter from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up.

New Yorker returns home

Trump has a complicated history with the place where he built his business empire, which has made him a tabloid and reality TV star. Last year, residents charged him with 34 counts of falsifying business records. He was found guilty in this case and also prosecuted in civil court for business fraud and sexual assault.

But Trump has talked about wanting to hold a rally at the site, dubbed “The Most Famous Arena in the World,” since he began his campaign.

The rally was one of many detours Trump has taken from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, California, and rallies on the Jersey Shore and the South Bronx.

While some see the stoppages as little more than a vanity exercise aimed at boosting Trump’s ego, the rallies guaranteed Trump national coverage that could help him reach the country’s few remaining swing voters, many of whom don’t get their news from traditional sources.

New York hasn’t voted for a Republican for president in 40 years. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from continuing to insist on his belief that he can win. New York is also home to several competitive congressional races that could determine which party controls the House of Representatives next year.

Trump regularly uses his hometown as a foil to audiences in other states, painting a bleak vision of the city that bears little resemblance to reality. He described it as crime-ridden and overrun by violent immigrant gangs that had taken over Fifth and Madison Avenues and occupied Times Square.

On Sunday, however, Trump had much more complimentary remarks about the city. He said that “no city embodies the spirit” and energy of the American people more, and talked about attending basketball and hockey games at the Garden.

After Trump concluded his speech more than an hour later, opera singer Christopher Macchio took the stage to perform “New York, New York.”

The former president smiled and swayed slightly as his wife stood next to him on stage.