On Sunday, Donald Trump headlined a rally at Madison Square Garden, flanked by a series of speakers whose rhetoric underscored the tone of his campaign.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, one of the opening acts, sparked controversy with jokes about Puerto Rico, referring to it as an “island of garbage,” and made other remarks about Latinos. When a Black man in the audience cheered, Hinchcliffe quipped that they had carved “watermelons together” at a Halloween party. The Trump campaign later distanced itself from Hinchcliffe’s comments, with senior adviser Danielle Alvarez stating that his jokes did not reflect Trump or his campaign’s views.
Tucker Carlson suggested that if Kamala Harris were to win, many Trump supporters would question the results, mocking Harris’s mixed-race heritage and calling her “the first Samoan Malaysian low IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected President.”
Longtime Trump allies Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Miller floated unfounded theories that Democrats were behind two recent assassination attempts against Trump. New York Republican David Rem held up a crucifix, referring to Kamala Harris as the “anti-Christ,” while the crowd chanted “USA, USA.”
Trump’s rally at the iconic venue, nine days before Election Day, included comments mocking Hillary Clinton, who recently warned that Trump’s event echoed the pro-Nazi 1939 rally held in the same location. Trump attorney Alina Habba taunted Clinton by wearing a MAGA-emblazoned sequined jacket, while Hulk Hogan dismissed her claims, saying, “I don’t see no stinking Nazis in here. All I see is a bunch of hard-working Americans.”
With the arena lit up in red and blue, and filled with red MAGA hats, speakers depicted a country struggling with crime, undocumented immigration, inflation, and taxes. The lineup included Elon Musk, Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance, Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr., RNC co-chair Lara Trump, and Melania Trump, who introduced her husband.
When Trump took the stage, he laid out a grim assessment of the U.S. under the Biden administration, pledging to “fix it.” He described a nation overwhelmed by crime and immigration, calling Harris “low IQ” and tied to a “massive, vicious, crooked, radical left machine.”
“If you want to end this disaster, you got to get out and vote,” Trump urged, deviating from his prepared speech with remarks on Venezuelan gangs, Musk’s technical achievements, and his hopes to win New York on Election Day. Despite his one-hour-and-20-minute speech, some attendees began leaving after an hour.
One supporter, Dennis Donnelly, a 43-year-old truck driver from Schenectady, traveled from upstate New York to attend the rally. He shared his enthusiasm for Trump’s stance on immigration, saying, “He wants to bring the intensity.”
Beyond his presidential campaign, Trump aimed to energize Republicans defending competitive House seats in the region, such as those held by Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. in New Jersey, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito on Long Island, and Rep. Mike Lawler in the Hudson Valley.
