Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks throughout a rally at Madison Sq. Backyard, in New York, U.S., October 27, 2024.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump headlined a rally at New York’s Madison Sq. Backyard on Sunday that started with a collection of vulgar and racist remarks by allies of the previous president.
Trump, a New York movie star for many years, hoped to make use of the occasion on the iconic venue identified for Knicks basketball video games and Billy Joel concert events to ship his closing argument in opposition to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, despite the fact that the state final backed a Republican presidential candidate in 1984.
Trump spoke repeatedly about his plans to halt unlawful immigration and deport migrants he described as “vicious and bloodthirsty criminals” if he wins the Nov. 5 election.
“On day one I’ll launch the biggest deportation program in American historical past,” he mentioned. “I’ll rescue each metropolis and city that has been invaded and conquered.”
Trump referred to as Harris a “very low IQ particular person” and drew cheers from supporters for his tough-on-migrants rhetoric.
He vowed to ban sanctuary cities, which refuse to cooperate with the federal authorities in imposing immigration legal guidelines, and to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act regulation to deport immigrants with legal data.
An extended listing of opening audio system diverse broadly from former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan to former New York Metropolis Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr.
Some used racist and misogynistic language in warming up a capability crowd.
Giuliani, a former private lawyer to Trump, falsely claimed that Harris was “on the facet of the terrorists” within the Israeli-Palestinian battle.
Comic Tony Hinchcliffe used crass language in joking that Latinos “love making infants” and referred to as the Caribbean U.S. territory of Puerto Rico a “floating island of rubbish.”
Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin posted a clip of the feedback on his Instagram and wrote, in Spanish, “That is what they consider us.”
Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump marketing campaign, instructed Reuters that the joke about Puerto Rico “doesn’t mirror the views of President Trump or the marketing campaign.”
Whereas Puerto Ricans are U.S. residents, residents of the island can not vote in U.S. basic elections.
Nevertheless, thousands and thousands of Puerto Ricans who’ve moved to the mainland United States can vote, and there’s a massive neighborhood within the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Harris earlier on Sunday visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, the biggest metropolis in Pennsylvania. She posted a video on social media promising to “put money into Puerto Rico’s future” as president.
Harris’s marketing campaign in an electronic mail mentioned the Madison Sq. Backyard rally was “mirroring the identical dangerously divisive and demeaning message” as Trump.
Trump’s 2016 presidential opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, has accused him of “re-enacting” a pro-Nazi rally that was held at Madison Sq. Backyard in 1939 on the eve of World Conflict Two.
Trump’s critics have lengthy accused him of empowering white supremacists with dehumanizing and racist rhetoric.
Trump rejected the comparability to the Nineteen Thirties. “That is referred to as Make America Nice Once more, that is all that is,” he mentioned on Friday.
“As we speak that is Donald Trump’s home,” wrestler Hulk Hogan mentioned on the New York occasion on Sunday. He rejected accusations that Trump is a fascist: “I do not see any Nazis in right here.”
U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, who’s supporting Trump’s reelection bid along with his X social media platform and large wealth , was greeted to the stage with chants of “Elon.”
“That is the sort of constructive power that America is all about,” Musk mentioned.
Musk, who Trump has mentioned he would faucet to steer a brand new authorities effectivity fee, mentioned the federal finances could possibly be diminished by “a minimum of” $2 trillion.
Discretionary spending, together with protection spending, is estimated to complete $1.9 trillion out of $6.75 trillion in complete federal outlays for fiscal 2024, in keeping with the Congressional Funds Workplace.
Trump in his speech argued that Individuals are worse off now than 4 years in the past.
He introduced a brand new coverage to offer a tax credit score for caregivers who handle a mum or dad or one other member of the family.
Trump touted his international coverage file throughout his 2017-21 presidency, and mentioned he wouldn’t begin wars in workplace, although he added that if the US did have a conflict with China, “We might kick their ass.”
Polls present Harris and Trump neck and neck in the battleground states that can determine the following president with simply over per week till Election Day. Greater than 38 million votes have already been solid throughout the nation.
Trump has sought to tie Harris to the Biden administration’s dealing with of immigration and the financial system. Final week, Trump debuted a brand new assault line: “She broke it, and I promise you I’ll repair it.”
The financial system has outperformed the remainder of the developed world because the COVID disaster, and inventory markets hit file highs this yr. However excessive costs of meals, utilities and housing have roiled voters, who imagine the financial system is headed within the mistaken route.
Harris, who held a rally with Bruce Springsteen in Atlanta on Thursday and with Beyoncé in Houston on Friday, will maintain one other high-profile occasion with a speech on Tuesday on the Nationwide Mall in Washington, the place she’s going to spotlight the variations between herself and Trump.
“He is stuffed with grievance. He is stuffed with darkish language that’s about retribution and revenge,” Harris mentioned of Trump in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Trump’s marketing campaign mentioned the occasion on the 19,500-seat Madison Sq. Backyard, which might value upwards of $1 million to hire, was offered out. Tickets are free and on a first-come-first-served foundation, as was the case with Harris’ Houston rally.
A crowd of some 30,000 folks attended Harris’ rally with Beyoncé on Friday evening in Houston, and about 20,000 attended the Atlanta rally.
“My inside polling is my intuition,” Harris mentioned to reporters in Philadelphia when requested how the marketing campaign is faring in its inside election projections. “The momentum is with us.”
