CNN —
Donald Trump defended his controversial Madison Square Garden rally on Tuesday, telling supporters that the event was “an absolute celebration of love” and that he was “honored to be a part of it.” said.
The former president’s comments came amid backlash over derogatory and divisive comments made by a comedian at an event in New York City on Sunday, including describing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of trash.” 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. But President Trump did not directly address criticism of his remarks Tuesday.
Addressing criticism of his rallies for the first time, Trump told supporters gathered at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida: “Whoever saw what happened last night at Madison Square Garden? I don’t think there are any,” he said. . “The love in that room was breathtaking, and it could have been filled many times over with people who couldn’t get in.”
He claimed that veteran politicians had told him, “Nothing like this has ever happened.”
“It was like a love fest, a real love fest. It was an honor to be a part of it,” he said.
CNN reported on Monday that several allies of President Trump expressed regret over the language used by speakers at the event, particularly on Puerto Rico, calling the tone of a night of derogatory and divisive comments. He announced that he had decided. The violent and vulgar rhetoric at the rally sparked condemnation among the former president’s inner circle and deep concerns that his message would once again be overshadowed by controversy.
President Trump on Tuesday sought to cast himself as an ally of the island, saying at a roundtable in Pennsylvania later that day, “No president has done more for Puerto Rico than I have.”
A woman who immigrated from Puerto Rico told President Trump, “I want you to know that Puerto Rico is behind you and that Puerto Rico loves you.”
Trump said, “Well, we love it. I know it very well, and we’ve helped you out of a lot of bad storms.”
After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, causing a humanitarian crisis, President Trump was criticized by both Democrats and Republicans for his slow response to the crisis. The Trump administration eventually deployed a Navy hospital ship to the island.
Puerto Rico’s shadow senator Zoraida Buxo is scheduled to speak at a Trump rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night, campaign officials said.
Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, Trump mocked Democrats by drawing similarities between his rally and a Nazi rally held at Madison Square Garden in 1939. Before the rally, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, said the Trump campaign said: They know “what they’re doing there.”
“They started saying, ‘The Nazis used Madison Square Garden in 1939,'” Trump said. “What a terrible thing to say, because they’ve been to Madison Square Garden so many times. A lot of people have been there. No one has ever had that kind of love before. It was an indoor love, a love for our country.”
The Harris campaign accused comedian and podcast host Tony Hinchcliffe of using comments about Puerto Rico in an ad that suggested President Trump had “abandoned” the U.S. territory in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. He was quick to criticize Puerto Rico. The campaign distanced itself from the former president’s comments in a statement Sunday night.
“He’s talking to his fellow countrymen,” former President Barack Obama said at Harris’ rally on Monday. “Here in Philadelphia, they’re your neighbors. They’re your friends, your co-workers. Their kids go to school with your kids. They’re Americans. ”
Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny voiced his support for Harris shortly after Hinchcliffe’s remarks, sharing a clip of the vice president’s plans for her on social media.
Republicans have sought to defuse the backlash. President Trump said Tuesday that he had not heard Hinchcliffe’s comments and did not know who the comedian was, even though Hinchcliffe opened a high-profile campaign rally.
“I don’t know him. Someone put him there. I don’t know who he is,” President Trump told ABC News.
President Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, on Monday described criticism of jokes about Puerto Rico as a “chain of false outrage.”
“A comedian made a joke that I don’t think is newsworthy. I think the news is that Americans can’t afford to buy groceries because Kamala Harris has been a terrible vice president. ” Vance said at an event in Racine, Wisconsin.
President Trump’s comments on Tuesday made light of the controversy surrounding his rally at Madison Square Garden, which he made at a campaign event in which he criticized Harris and President Joe Biden’s administration’s response to the economy and border security.
“We’re going to fight like hell for the next seven days,” Trump said as the crowd chanted “fight!” Those were the words President Trump shouted shortly after he survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan, Kristen Holmes, Steve Contorno, Kit Maher, Priscilla Alvarez and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
