CNN —
Violent and vulgar language at President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday has sparked condemnation among the former president’s inner circle, as his message is once again overshadowed by controversy. This raises deep concerns that this may be the case.
Some of President Trump’s allies criticized the language used by speakers at the New York City event, particularly comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who opened the event and set the tone for the evening with derogatory and divisive remarks. expressed regret over vulgar jokes about Puerto Rico.
A source close to the former president said he was “outraged” and surprised that the speakers’ comments were not thoroughly vetted before they took the stage.
Throughout Sunday afternoon and evening, a parade of speakers wowed the audience at President Trump’s pre-election MAGA celebration, adopting the Republican candidate’s anything-goes tone. Some made racist rants about Latinos and Black Americans. Some, past and present, have launched misogynistic attacks against President Trump’s female political opponents.
Many of these statements appeared to be read from a teleprompter, indicating they were approved by someone within the event’s planning team. One campaign adviser told CNN that speeches should be vetted beforehand, but it’s unclear how the overtly racist language ended up on stage. Another senior adviser said the speech had been vetted, but insisted the more offensive remarks were ad-libbed and not based on a draft given to the campaign.
As of Monday, there was still a dispute within the camp over who approved Hinchcliffe’s set, which was full of racial metaphors. One adviser suggested no one had fully considered Mr Hinchcliffe’s comments. Another said the campaign wasn’t given a draft containing some of the comedian’s more vulgar jokes, but set a flag for someone who called Vice President Kamala Harris “shit” in “bad taste.” He said he removed it from the
The program was a sharp departure from the meticulous staging of this summer’s Republican National Convention, where every speech was carefully scrutinized and rigorously choreographed. During the convention, campaign advisers routinely edited and, in some cases, rewrote the remarks of invited speakers, minimizing room for improvisation. Campaign aides confirmed to CNN that the level of preparation that took place at the Milwaukee convention did not apply to Sunday’s rally.
Despite an unusual series of events since the RNC in July, including Harris becoming the Democratic nominee to replace President Joe Biden, Trump’s advisers have been trying to keep him focused. Trump has struggled and his public appearances have become increasingly erratic as he strays further from his message. Some allies at times publicly questioned whether the former president had struck the right tone to garner the voter support needed to hold elections in battleground states.
Sunday began with Republican optimism that the Trump campaign is at least striking the right tone with a new ad that looks ahead to Trump’s second term in office.
“President Trump will fight for you. His strength protected us. President Trump cut taxes for families. Prices were lower and the border was secure. Now… President Trump can do it again, and we are on the verge of a new golden age of American success for people of every race, religion, color, and creed,” the narrator exclaims. .
Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist and CNN political commentator, praised the ad as the Trump campaign’s “perfect closing argument.” But by 8 p.m., hopes that President Trump would build on that message at Madison Square Garden had evaporated.
But the offensive comments that night were not entirely out of place in the context of Trump rallies, where vulgar slogans, explicit Kid Rock anthems and the use of offensive nicknames for political opponents are the norm. Many of his supporters express themselves through terrible messages written on T-shirts. Trump himself often employs xenophobic language and has increasingly used profanity in his speeches.
Democrats have a clear path to capitalize on it in the final stages of the campaign, as Mr. Trump has endured – if not successfully – the lack of filters that define his political brand for nearly a decade. It remains empty. Similarly, Future Forward, a major super PAC supporting Harris’ presidential campaign, recently said that Democrats risk diluting their ultimate message by spending too much time labeling Trump a fascist. I warned you.
Still, the timing of Sunday’s events – so close to Election Day and against the backdrop of high-profile New York – prompted a new wave of concerns from Republicans.
The controversy largely revolves around a joke Hinchcliffe made in which he referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of trash.” Some Republican lawmakers, who are closely aligned with President Trump, issued statements condemning the remarks. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, the state with the largest Puerto Rican population, called the comment “neither funny nor true.” “No one agreed with that,” said Rep. Byron Donald, also of Florida.
See how Puerto Rico’s offensive joke backfires on President Trump in Pennsylvania
Allies expressed concern that the comments could have political repercussions, especially given the growing influence of Puerto Ricans in the battleground state, home to about 500,000 people in Pennsylvania alone. did. A source close to the former president acknowledged that campaign officials received numerous calls stressing the need to address the remarks.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a New York Republican and Puerto Rican who is facing one of the toughest re-election races in the United States, said of “X” that “the only thing that was ‘trash’ was the terrible comedy sets.” I wrote.
“Wait for the message,” D’Esposito advised.
While the Trump campaign has generally remained unapologetic about the inflammatory comments, it quickly issued a statement Sunday night distancing itself from Hinchcliffe’s comments.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or his campaign,” campaign spokesman Daniel Alvarez said in a statement.
Trump’s distancing from Hinchcliffe did not extend to the comedian’s other inflammatory comments, including his stereotypes about black people and watermelons and his crude claims about the sex lives of Latino immigrants. The campaign also did not acknowledge other comments that drew criticism, including those who called Harris “the devil” and “the antichrist.”
As of Monday, Trump had no plans to address the comments during any future appearances. The former president will hold an event in Georgia on Monday and visit Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Democrats were quick to seize on the ostensibly aggressive posture. In the aftermath of the rally, Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny expressed support for Harris to his 45 million followers on social media, and her campaign was quickly promoted.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is Puerto Rican, called President Trump’s Madison Square Garden event a “hate rally” and suggested the campaign is in damage control mode over Hinchcliffe’s comments. did.
“They’re just now realizing that they may have made a big mistake by saying out loud what they were thinking,” she told MSNBC on Monday.
‘None of this was a coincidence’: AOC responds to Puerto Rico joke at Trump rally
However, it remains to be seen whether President Trump’s disparaging comments about Puerto Rico will influence the election. Trump himself once called the region “one of the most corrupt places on Earth.” He accused local authorities of inflating the death toll from Hurricane Maria (estimated at 3,000) to make him look bad.
Democrats sought to mobilize Puerto Ricans in some battlegrounds in 2020 by attacking President Trump’s response to Maria. Spanish-language ads and billboards in Florida showed President Trump throwing paper towels at homeless survivors, highlighting his past criticism of the island. In Osceola County, where the population soared after Maria’s election and one in three voters identifies as Puerto Rican, Democrats are recruiting storm survivors to urge other Puerto Ricans to vote against Trump. I called out.
In the end, Trump won Florida, and his performance improved by 7 points in Osceola County.
