NEW YORK — Donald Trump took the stage Sunday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden after several of his allies used crude and extreme rhetoric toward Vice President Kamala Harris and other critics of the former president.
The Republican nominee began what his campaign said would be his closing argument with the election nine days away by asking the same questions he’s asked at the start of every recent rally: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The crowd responded with a resounding “No!”
“This election is a choice between whether we’ll have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we’ll begin the greatest years in the history of our country,” he said after being introduced by his wife, Melania Trump, whose rare surprise appearance comes after she has been largely absent on the campaign trail.
The event was marked by a series of racist and sexist comments from several speakers.
Trump’s childhood friend David Rem referred to the Democratic presidential candidate, who is vying to become the first woman to be elected president, as “the Antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris “and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.”
The opening of the rally was a hodgepodge of Trumpism, with an extended clip played from the 1970 film Patton, a painting of the American flag with Trump in front of it hugging the Empire State Building as “God Bless America” blared from the speakers, and a stand-up routine from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that was full of lewd jokes, often invoking racist stereotypes of Latinos, Jews and Black people.
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said Hinchcliffe, whose comment was immediately flagged by Harris’ campaign as it competes with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states.
With just over a week to go before Election Day, the former president was to take the stage Sunday at one of the country’s most well-known venues, hosting a hometown rally to deliver his campaign’s closing message against Harris. The program leading up to his appearance was filled with conservative officials, longtime allies and media figures popular with conservatives like Dr. Phil McGraw and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The rally is one of a series of detours Trump has made from battleground states, including a recent rally in Coachella, Calif. — best known for the famous music festival named after the town — and one in May on the Jersey Shore. This summer he campaigned in the South Bronx.
Beyond the national spotlight and the appeal of appearing on one of the world’s most famous stages, Republicans in the state say the rally will also help down-ballot candidates. New York is home to a handful of competitive congressional races that could determine which party controls the House next year.
Trump will also use the stop as a major fundraising opportunity as he continues to seriously lag Harris in the money race.
