Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally draws backlash after comedian’s riff

NEW YORK – The White House campaign has it stays razor closeDonald Trump tried to capitalize on his celebrity status on Sunday and stage a fun, flashy event that could cut through the noise at the end.

Instead, the Republican presidential candidate’s widely advertised rally at Madison Square Garden sparked controversy with a series of inappropriate attacks on Democrats and a warm-up performance by a comedian that sparked debate political uproar with a key electorate, Trump hopes to prevail in his bid for a second term in the White House.

At the beginning of the rally, comedian Tony Hinchliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, ridiculed Puerto Rico, calling it a “floating island of garbage,” and also said that Latinos have too many children. While Trump’s subsequent campaign sought to distance himself from the joke, it has already drawn condemnation from allies such as Florida state Sen. Rick Scott and the chairman of the Puerto Rican Republican Party.

“This joke bombed for a reason,” said Scott, a first-term senator in his own right A hotly contested 2024 re-election race. “It’s not funny and it’s not true.”

The Trump campaign was counting on that The return of the Big Apple create a moment with national resonance and get supporters to the polls with an over-the-top event. While some political observers questioned the wisdom of making a deep blue state instead of a swing state in the final days of the campaign, Trump and many of his GOP allies argued that New York still played a role.

With polls showing Trump ahead on the economy and immigration, he emphasized those issues in the first half of his rally speeches as the campaign aims to blame opponent Kamala Harris for high inflation and high levels of illegal immigration in recent years. Trump unveiled a policy proposal calling for new tax cuts for people caring for loved ones at home and sparked chants of “send them back” after he invoked his plan to deport illegal immigrants.

“The United States is currently an occupied country, but soon it will no longer be an occupied country… In nine days it will be liberation day in America,” Trump said.

Trump didn’t shy away from some of his more controversial remarks, deepening his remarks that Democrats and his opponents are the “enemy from within.”

“When I say the enemy on the other side has gone crazy… he has done very bad things to this country and is in fact the enemy from within,” Trump said.

The former president continued to attack Harris in aggressive and deeply personal terms, saying she “couldn’t put two sentences together” after a long line of speakers questioned her intelligence. He tied his attacks to his new campaign slogan that “Trump will fix it.”

“Kamala broke something after the problem, but I will fix it,” he said.

A spectacle of stars

Trump held a riotous rally in an attempt to once again generate media buzz and energize his base, which filled the 19,500-seat venue known for hosting some of the world’s biggest celebrities, musicians and sports figures.

The spectacle included former wrestler Hulk Hogan waving an American flag on stage, conservative media personality Tucker Carlson mentioning that he saw The Grateful Dead in the same arena, and talk show host Dr. Phil arguing that Trump is not a tyrant. Dr. Phil and Hulk Hogan were surprise, unannounced speakers.

Trump was also joined by former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, entrepreneur Elon Musk, former Democratic supporters Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, his running mate J.D. Vance, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White, his wife and his two oldest sons.

Trump said he wouldn’t let Kennedy, a longtime environmentalist, “get too crazy… on oil and gas,” but he planned to let the vaccine opponent “go crazy about health. I’ll let him go, I’ll let him go crazy on drugs.

Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran against Trump in the GOP primary, told the crowd that on Sunday morning he heard from a billionaire friend who asked why the former president was holding the event in New York. A friend said, ‘Why the hell are you wasting your time in New York instead of going to a swing state,'” Ramaswamy said.

His response: “New York is a swing state.” Trump lost New York significantly in 2020 and 2016, but the public loved it.

After a big night in New York, Trump begins his last full week of campaigning before Election Day with a series of swing state events. He begins with a rally on Monday in Atlanta, Georgia, then continues to Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday and Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, where he will be joined by former Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre.

Roots of New York

supporters of the former president they set up camp on the city’s streets for an event that many considered “historic” – Trump’s final rally.

This comes as polling averages show Trump and Harris in a close two-point race nationwide and in every swing state. The candidates make a crazy, last-ditch effort to get votes. Multiple speakers urged the crowd to “fight, fight, fight” – echoing Trump’s words on stage shortly after he was shot in assassination attempt – and “vote, vote, vote.”

The jumbotron in the arena said “vote early!” permanently displayed above the speakers, showing Trump he turned around from criticizing early and postal voting, which could have cost him in 2020.

Speakers at Sunday’s rally highlighted Madison Square Garden’s rich history, trying to equate Trump with some of the other legends who have appeared there, from singer Elvis Presley to Hogan at the height of his wrestling fame.

Vance said that in an arena that has seen many champions, “the greatest champion of all” is Trump.

The place has particular resonance for Trump, who grew up in New York and built his real estate empire there. He has attended events at the Garden for decades, sitting ringside for boxing matches and UFC fights.

Speakers mentioned Trump’s New York roots. “The king of New York is coming back to take back the city he built,” Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., announced to thunderous applause.

Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, said the city teaches “being tough.”

Trump was charged twice, charged in four separate criminal cases, and charged with inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. But for many at the rally, these were just signs of his resolve to persist in the face of what was described as unjust persecution.

“They don’t want to meet Donald Trump at the ballot box, so they’re going to do everything they can, imprison him, kill him,” said David Rem, Trump’s childhood friend.

Outside the rally, many New Yorkers were not happy with the MAGA invasion.

Along Eighth Street, a woman with bright red hair was pulling a cart with a sign that read, “Welcome to your Nazi rally.” Nearby, another woman wearing a “Stop Project 2025” armband waved a sign that read “Trump should be in jail on one side” and “Don the criminal” on the other.

Some Trump critics even infiltrated the rally. Marty Nagel, an attorney who lives on Long Island’s south shore, is not a Trump fan, but he wore a red MAGA hat to blend in at the rally. He wanted to witness this scene in person.

“I worry about how the legal system will withstand a Trump victory or defeat, which is why I’m here to bear witness,” Nagel said.

Reporter Josh Meyer contributed