(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — In a controversial statement made on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump described his recent rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden—overshadowed by crude and racial slurs from several speakers—as a “lovefest.”
This term, indicative of Trump’s attempts to frame contentious events positively, has also been his go-to description for the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
While addressing a gathering of supporters and reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump exalted his Sunday night rally in New York City as “there’s never been an event so beautiful” and waxed poetic about the atmosphere, declaring, “The love in that room. It was breathtaking.”
He continued to emphasize his feelings of joy and pride, insisting, “It was like a lovefest, an absolute lovefest. And it was my honor to be involved.”
This positive spin has met considerable backlash, notably from Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and critics from within the Republican Party itself, who condemned the racist comments hurled by multiple speakers during the pre-show segment, targeting various groups including Latinos, Black individuals, Jews, and Palestinians, along with derogatory remarks toward Harris and Hillary Clinton.
One particularly offensive set by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who crudely remarked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage,” raised alarm considering the voting influence of Puerto Ricans in key battleground states such as Pennsylvania.
In response to the backlash, the Trump campaign made the unusual decision to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s specific comments regarding Puerto Rico, though it did not address the broader issues raised by other speakers.
Ángel Cintrón, the president of Puerto Rico’s Republican Party, labeled Hinchcliffe’s unrefined joke as “disgraceful, ignorant and totally reprehensible,” emphasizing the importance of upholding dignified discourse within the party.
Trump utilized Tuesday’s gathering at Mar-a-Lago to launch attacks on Kamala Harris’ track record regarding border security and economic issues, claiming that she “broke it” and promising supporters that he would “fix it and fix it very fast.”
As the election countdown dwindles to just a week, some of Trump’s allies have expressed concerns that the rally, intended to underscore his campaign’s final message, has instead become a distraction, amplifying voter apprehensions regarding his history of inflammatory rhetoric during the critical closing phase of the race.
Before the event, Trump stated that he was unfamiliar with the comedian responsible for the most inflammatory remarks but refrained from condemning the comments, claiming he hadn’t heard them.
Later, when pressed by reporters on the nature of Hinchcliffe’s statements, Trump failed to seize the opportunity to criticize them, reiterating instead that he was unaware of what was said, according to ABC News reports.
Trump’s campaign is now set to continue with a stop in Pennsylvania, a state where the Latino eligible voter demographic has surged dramatically, rising from 206,000 to approximately 620,000 since 2000 based on Census Bureau statistics, with Puerto Rican voters comprising a significant portion of that population.
Additionally, he is poised to hold a rally later in the evening in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which boasts a sizable Hispanic community.
Longtime Allentown resident Angelo Ortega, a disillusioned former Republican who plans to support Harris in the upcoming election, expressed his shock and indignation over the commentary made during Trump’s rally.
“I don’t know if my jaw dropped or I was just so irritated, angry. I didn’t know what to feel,” stated Ortega, whose father immigrated from Puerto Rico. He has been actively campaigning for Harris and noted that he is aware of several Hispanic GOP voters considering a switch to Harris as a direct response to Hinchcliffe’s remarks.
“They’ve had it. They’ve had it. They were listening to (Trump), but they believe that was like the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Ortega lamented, as a member of the advocacy group Make the Road PA.
While Trump himself did not make the Puerto Rico remark, Ortega noted that the comedian’s comments were made within the context of Trump’s political event, which carries its weight and responsibility.