NEW YORK — Donald Trump rallies in the closing weeks of the campaign have been marked by overt racism and anti-immigrant sentiments and that didn’t stop with the former president’s hometown visit to Madison Square Garden.
The rally in the home of the New York Knicks kicked off with a speech by podcaster and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. The “Kill Tony” host fell in line with the Trump campaign’s recent intensification of anti-migrant talking points, saying that “Latinos love making babies” and calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
Hinchliffe’s jokes are of a piece with Trump’s wider disdain for Puerto Rico. During his term, he attempted to divert federal disaster aid from the U.S. territory to help build his border wall. A former Secretary of Homeland Security in the administration said that Trump asked if it would be possible for the U.S. to sell the island as it was recovering from Hurricane Maria.
The animosity toward Puerto Ricans, who are American citizens, echoes recent points made by Trump himself. The former president has promised the deportation of legal residents who have migrated to the United States and said that recent immigrants to the U.S. have turned the country into a “garbage can.”
In addition to a Colorado rally where Trump spent hours roiling up concerns over immigrants from Latin America, the former president has repeatedly claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are “eating cats” and other local pets. In spite of the claim being debunked by local authorities (and an admission by his running mate that the story was made up to support their narrative), Trump continues to push the idea of a frightening immigrant other.
Many former members of the Trump administration have worried that he’s an outright “fascist” and would govern like a dictator if allowed a second term.
By ALEX GALBRAITH/Salon
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