Trump Rally at Madison Square Garden Marked by Racist and Lewd Jokes

Donald Trump was the headliner at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. But the more than two dozen warm-up acts showed the country a lot about the party he’s built around him.

Speaking from a podium on the arena floor that read “Trump will fix it,” comedian Tony Hinchcliffe compared Puerto Rico to an “island of garbage,” and made lewd sexual jokes about Latinos. When a Black man stood to cheer him on, Hinchcliffe said the two of them had been at a Halloween party the night before, adding "We carved watermelons together." (On Monday, the Trump campaign distanced itself from Hinchcliffe’s set, providing a statement attributed to senior adviser Danielle Alvarez: “These jokes do not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”)

Tucker Carlson said it’s going to be hard for Trump supporters like him to believe the election results if Kamala Harris wins. He also mocked Harris—whose mother was from India and father from Jamaica—for her biracial identity, saying she would be “the first Samoan Malaysian low IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected President.” 

Two longtime Trump allies—Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Miller—floated false conspiracies that Democrats were behind the two recent assassination attempts against Trump. New York Republican David Rem, who has been described as a childhood friend of Trump, held up a crucifix and called Kamala Harris the “anti-Christ.” When Rem finished speaking, the crowd of Trump supporters cheered and chanted “USA, USA, USA.”

Nine days before Election Day, Donald Trump decided to hold a lengthy Sunday revival for his America First movement inside the iconic arena that’s seen marquee heavyweight fights, professional hockey and basketball championships, major party conventions, and an infamous rally of pro-Nazi Americans in 1939. 

Hillary Clinton said last week that Trump’s event was “reenacting” the pro-Nazi 1939 rally and that American voters need to “open your eyes to the danger this man poses.” Several speakers mocked Clinton’s claim. Trump lawyer Alina Habba said she wanted to “trigger Hillary Clinton” when she put her sequined jacket over the podium that had the letters “MAGA” on the back. Later, Hulk Hogan came on stage in an orange and red feather boa. “I don’t see no stinking Nazis in here,” Hogan said. “All I see is a bunch of hard working Americans.”

Lit up by red and blue lights and dotted with red MAGA hats, Trump supporters filled the arena as more than two dozen speakers described a failing country riddled with crime and overwhelmed by undocumented immigrants and an economy hobbled by inflation and burdened by taxes.

Other notable speakers included Elon Musk; Trump running mate J.D. Vance; Trump's sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr.; Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump; and Melania Trump, who introduced her husband in a rare public appearance.

When Trump finally made his entrance, he laid out a dark view of the country that matched the rhetoric of many of those who had preceded him on stage. The former President painted a picture of the U.S. in the Biden era as overtaken by immigrants and violent crime, while promising he would “fix it.” He called Harris "low IQ" and beholden to "a massive, vicious, crooked, radical left machine that runs today’s Democrat party."

“They are indeed the enemy from within,” Trump said. “If you want to end this disaster, you got to get out and vote.”

Trump interrupted his scripted remarks with lengthy digressions about Venezuelan gangs, Musk’s ability to land a rocket engine, and his long-shot desire to win New York on Nov. 5. He spoke for an hour and 20 minutes, but some in the audience started heading for the exits after an hour.

Dennis Donnelly, 43, left Schenectady in upstate New York at 5:30 am to stand in line for Trump’s rally. A truck driver who drives tandem double semis for a large grocery store chain, Donnelly likes Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration. “He wants to bring the intensity,” Donnelly says.

Even if he doesn’t win New York’s 28 electoral votes, Trump has an interest in helping area Republicans defend vulnerable House seats that could determine control of the chamber. The northern New Jersey district of Republican incumbent Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. is under pressure from the Democratic challenger Sue Altman. First-term Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito is facing a tough race on the south shore of Long Island from Democrat Laura Gillen. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is defending the lower Hudson Valley from a challenge by former Democratic congressman Mondaire Jones. 

None of those Republican candidates spoke at the New York City rally.