Trump’s MSG event includes racial slurs

By JILL COLVIN and MICHELLE L. PRICE

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump staged a rally filled with crude and racist insults at New York’s Madison Square Garden, turning what his campaign had called the event at which he would deliver his final message into an illustration of what turns off his critics.

With just over a week before Election Day, speakers at the rally Sunday night labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” dubbed Democratic Vice President. Kamala Harris “the devil,” and said the woman vying to become the first black and female president had started her career as a prostitute.

‘I don’t know if you know this, but there is literally a floating waste island in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” said Tony Hinchcliffe, a stand-up comedian whose set also included lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and black people, all key constituencies in the election just nine days away.

His joke was immediately criticized by Harris’ campaign for competing with Trump Winning over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny endorsed Harris shortly after Hinchcliffe’s appearance.

The normally combative Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

But other speakers also made inflammatory comments. Trump’s childhood friend David Rem called Harris “the antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris “and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.”

The big event reflected the former president’s tone during his third campaign in the White House. Although he did not do so on Sunday, Trump often attacks Harris offensive and personal terms himself, questioning her mental stability and intelligence in recent weeks and calling her “lazy,” long a racist trope used against black people.

The event was a surreal spectacle that included former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, politicians including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Reps. Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik, and an artist who painted a picture of Trump hugging the Empire State Building.

And that was all before Trump was scheduled to take the stage, delayed by more than two hours.

After being introduced by his wife, Melania TrumpIn a rare public appearance, the former president began by asking the same questions he has asked at the start of every recent meeting: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The audience responded with a resounding “No!”

“These elections are a choice between whether we will have four more years of gross incompetence and failure, or whether we will enter the best years in the history of our country,” he said.

Trump announced a new tax break for health care providers

Trump added a new proposal on Sunday his list of tax cuts aimed at winning over older adults and workers, which already includes promises to end taxes on Social Security benefits, tips and overtime: a tax credit for caregivers.

This comes after Harris spoke about the ‘sandwich generation’ of adults caring for elderly parents while raising their children. Harris has proposed federal funding to cover the cost of home care for older Americans.

Trump repeated otherwise familiar lines on foreign policy and immigration, calling for the death penalty for any migrant who kills a U.S. citizen and saying that the day he takes office “the invasion of migrants into our country will end.”