A show of force in the heart of the Democratic stronghold of New York. A message of defiance from one of the most symbolic stadiums, Madison Square Garden, nine days before the elections. This Sunday, Donald Trump reconquered the city where he was born and where he was convicted of 34 serious crimes in the Stormy Daniels affair. To do this, he surrounded himself with his entire entourage during an event marked by racist insults from the speakers.
“The island of waste”, to refer to Puerto Rico or “the Antichrist” to refer to Democrat Kamala Harris, are some of the comments that resonated on the walls of the pavilion. “I don’t see any stinking Nazis here. “I don’t see any stinking domestic terrorists here,” shouted professional wrestler Hulk Hogan – surprise speaker at the event – when he took the stage. Even he was aware of the parallels with the pro-Nazi rally at old Madison Square Garden.
Trump didn’t want to be left behind in the barrage of insults and attacks and suggested Harris was stupid: “Everyone knows she’s a person with a very low IQ.” ” Credit for this comment, however, goes to journalist Tucker Carlson, who in turn, opening for the mogul, said: “It’s going to be very difficult for them to say that Kamala Harris got 85 million votes because it is very impressive.” That the first former prosecutor of California […] with a low IQ was elected president. Insults and conspiracy theories about voter fraud with one stone.
The ghost of the conspiracy that Republicans are so fanning in the latter part of the campaign was also embodied in the appearance of Rudolph Giuliani, former New York mayor and former Trump lawyer accused in the Georgia state case for attempting to change the outcome of the campaign. the 2020 elections. “I’m not going to do conspiracy theories, and it’s not that I’m not going to do them, but it’s a curious thing that they tried everything else. [en referencia a las acusaciones penales contra Trump] and now they are trying to kill him,” said Giuliani, who can no longer practice law in various states due to his attacks on the election results of the last election.
The atmosphere and guest list this afternoon at Madison Square Garden was very similar to that of the Republican Convention in Milwaukee. Great figures of the Republican Party, such as speaker Mike Johnson; bizarre characters like Hulk Hogan and Trump’s big signature: X owner Elon Musk. In Milwaukee, during the tycoon’s final speech, it was rumored in the preceding hours that Musk would appear to support him. The Trumpists’ expectation came true in Butler on October 5, when Musk took the stage with Trump for the first time. Since then, he has preached in favor of the Republican throughout the country.
The pavilion, which can accommodate almost 20,000 people, was completely full and they had arranged the court so that more people could sit. After two hours of queuing from midday, there were still people left outside. Most of the people gathered on the streets adjacent to Seventh Avenue, where the stadium entrances had been opened, were from outside New York. Regina, 60, came from New Jersey – neighboring Manhattan – to support Trump. “He has to win. I have supported it since day one, since 2016,” he said. The red MAGA cap, already changed to pink, bears witness to this.
Inside the stadium, as usual, Trump appeared two hours late. His team had announced the intervention at five o’clock, but it did not take place until after seven o’clock. The complaints and frustration of some attendees were visible every time the stadium loudspeaker announced a new speaker and it wasn’t the Republican. When it was announced that Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was taking the stage, a man in a yarmulke who had already taken out his cell phone to record said, “Almost.” Let it out now. And he saved the smart phone in the pants pocket.
Trump took a path through a state that is not key in this election. New York is distinctly Democratic and is very far from being considered a swing state. Simply spending the penultimate weekend before the election holding a rally here is a clear message of defiance to Democrats in what promises to be a very close election. Although there was also a point of sentimentality.
New York remains Trump’s city, even if the tycoon is now registered in Florida to pay less taxes. For a few hours, the tycoon has been able to get an idea of what it would be like to be able to change the color of this state. A fantasy that Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has fueled by asserting that New York is a “swing state”, or Congresswoman Elise Stefanik: “As a New Yorker born and raised here, New York is Trump territory”. Harris leads Trump by 15 percentage points in the state, according to polling aggregator FiveTirthyEight.
Jokes that can cost votes
In a very tight electoral race, the Latino vote is proving crucial to strengthening Trump in certain key states like Arizona. Yet that hasn’t stopped racist jokes about Latinos and blacks. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe commented on Puerto Rico, calling it the “waste island.” Although he didn’t stop there: he also joked about the size of Hispanic families (“These Latinos love to babys”) and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, describing the former as stone throwers and the latter as cheapskates.
The comedian also made fun of black men. To do this, he resorted to the racist stereotype of black people and watermelons created after the American Civil War.
Calling Puerto Rico a “garbage island” has sparked nervousness among Latinos in the Republican Party. Puerto Rican Republican Party congresswoman Jeniffer González expressed her rejection of the comedian’s comments. “What he said is not comical, in the same way they were rejected by the public, he deserves the forceful rejection of everyone,” says González – even if the joke was greeted with shy laughter from the public – and he adds: “Space cannot be given to expressions as infamous and racist as these. “They do not represent the conservative values of the Republican Party.” Another Republican and Hispanic deputy, María Elvira Salazar, also criticized Hinchcliffe and insisted that “this rhetoric does not reflect the values of the Republican Party.”
Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin shared the Trump comedian’s clip on his Instagram profile with the phrase “That’s what they think of us” and asked to vote for Harris. Who also showed his support for the Democrat was the reggaeton singer and also the Puerto Rican Bad Bunny, who shared a video of Harris on his Instagram profile.
Trump, more aggressive
The former president once again displayed his xenophobic and histrionic rhetoric, with the same promises of a “golden age” for the United States and a “mass deportation” if he returns to the White House after on November 5. “On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history. “I will save every city and village that has been invaded and conquered,” he said.
The Republican, who already mentioned the idea of an “enemy within” in Butler and indirectly suggested that it was the Democrats, stopped using euphemisms and pointed the finger directly at them. “A corrupt, radical left-wing machine runs today’s Democratic Party,[…] I know many; It’s just this amorphous group of people, but they’re smart and ruthless, and we have to defeat them, and when I talk about the enemy within, they’re upset. They are the enemy within and a massive enemy,” Trump told the audience.
In his speech, Trump argued that Americans are worse off today than four years ago and announced a new policy that will provide a tax credit to caregivers who care for a parent or family member. another member of the family. As is also usual, he once again assured that if he governed, conflicts would end and he promised that he would not start wars if he was president. Although he included the following nuance: if there was a conflict with China, “we would kick their ass.”
