Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday was so revolting that it got the media to do something it almost never does: explicitly call something “racist."
The rally was meant to deliver Trump’s closing argument for why voters should give him another term in office, but speaker after speaker made bigoted remarks about Latinos, Black people, Palestinians, and Jews, as well as made violent and misogynistic comments about Vice President Kamala Harris.
There was so-called comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who made a so-called joke calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Hinchcliffe made another racist and vulgar comment about Latinos, saying, “And these Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country."
Hinchcliffe didn’t stop there, unfortunately. He also used racist stereotypes about Black people, saying they carve watermelons instead of pumpkins.
But it wasn’t just Hinchcliffe.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani disparaged Palestinians, calling them all “terrorists.” Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called Harris “a Samoan-Malaysian, low-IQ, former California prosecutor.” And another speaker disparaged Harris’ intelligence, saying she is controlled by “pimp handlers”—a disgustingly racist and misogynistic way to describe the first Black female vice president.
The event was so awful that even The New York Times—which has spent the election cycle sanewashing Trump's speeches to make them sound normal—called the event racist.
Here’s a look at the negative headlines Trump’s hate-filled rally earned him with eight days to go until the election:
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The New York Times: Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism
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The New York Times: After Trump’s Racist Rally, Campaigns Plan Furious Week of Events
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CNN: Trump loyalists spew racist, vulgar attacks at Harris and Democrats at New York City rally
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CNN: Trump rally speakers hurl insults, including racist comments, at Harris, Hillary Clinton and illegal immigrants
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Associated Press: Trump’s Madison Square Garden event features crude and racist insults
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The Washington Post: Trump rally speakers invoke racist tropes in denouncing Harris …
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NBC News: As Trump courts their vote, comedian at his rally makes racist jokes about Latinos and Puerto Rico
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New York Daily News: Trump’s MSG event turns into ugly racist rally, speakers insult Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Jews
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Axios: MAGA speakers unleash ugly rhetoric at Trump's MSG rally
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Politico: Fallout spreads from racist rhetoric at Trump’s MSG rally
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Politico: Trump’s New York homecoming sparks backlash over racist and vulgar remarks
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Rolling Stone: Extremely Racist ‘Comedian’ Speaks at Trump Rally, Calls Puerto Rico ‘Garbage’
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Reuters: Trump headlines Madison Square Garden rally after vulgar, racist remarks from allies
Even The Wall Street Journal—owned by right-wing billionaire Rupert Murdoch—had a negative headline, writing, “Several Speakers Take Dark Tone at Trump’s MSG Rally.”
And USA Today, which initially sanewashed Trump’s speech, was shamed into changing the headline of its story on the rally.
The coverage was so universally negative that Fox News complained about the media finally calling a spade a spade.
“They’re focusing on the wrong things,” Ainsley Earhardt, co-host of “Fox & Friends,” said Monday morning.
It's unclear if the rally will have an impact on the race.
However, in a 50-50 contest, having near universally negative coverage of an event that was supposed to be his closing argument cannot be helpful to Trump’s campaign.
“This rally is SO OFF THE RAILS, such misogyny, such xenophobia, such racism, such vitriol, such hate, such ugliness that it’s a stark reminder of what Americans HATE about Trump,” Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist and CNN contributor, wrote on X. “It is SO BAD, it is an in-kind contribution to the Kamala Harris [and] Tim Walz campaign. So, thank you!”
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