It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
‘F*** These Racists’: Geraldo Rivera Tears Into MAGA After Trump’s MSG Rally
Will Neal Mon 28 October 2024 Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera, a former close friend of Donald Trump, issued a stark warning to Latino men who might be thinking of voting for the Republican candidate in the upcoming presidential election.
“F--k these racists,” the former Fox News host posted to X late Sunday. “Latino men of good will, have pride in yourselves and your ancestors. A vote for Trump is a vote against self-respect.” Along with a number of fascistic Trump comments from recent weeks, Rivera’s post specifically referenced remarks from podcaster Tony Hinchliffe who described Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” at a Trump rally in New York City on Sunday.
Rivera’s own father was Puerto Rican and moved to New York where he met the broadcaster’s mother. Geraldo himself spent time living with his grandparents in Puerto Rico as a teenager. In 2008, he published a book which drew on his father’s story titled His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S.
“It’s a story that’s like so many tens of millions before and after us,” Rivera said the year after its publication. “All my Dad ever wanted was for us to grow up and be assimilated, to be Americans, real Americans.”
His scathing post warning Latino voters away from the former president comes after Rivera—a long-time Republican who has otherwise stood by Trump’s side through a litany of controversies over the years—recently publicly endorsedKamala Harris, describing Trump as a “sore loser who cannot be trusted to honor the Constitution.”
Hinchcliffe’s jokes also referenced an offensive stereotype about Black people and further slandered Latinos, in crude terms, as people who “love making babies.”
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera (L) as he arrives aboard Air Force One, to survey hurricane damage, at Muniz Air National Guard Base in Carolina, Puerto Rico, U.S. October 3, 2017.
Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican musical superstar, shared a video from Harris’ Instagram account on his own story moments after Hinchcliffe delivered his remarks. The clip, in which Harris attacks Trump’s handling of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017, amounted to an announcement that Bad Bunny is supporting Harris, a source close to the musician told The Washington Post.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader,” Harris says in the footage. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Fellow Puerto Rican artists Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez also shared the footage of Harris with their followers. Martin separately shared a clip of Hinchcliffe’s offensive comments, adding a caption in Spanish saying: “This is what they think of us.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who is also of Puerto Rican descent, also condemned the remarks on a Twitch stream alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee. “When you have some a-hole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating garbage,’ know that that’s what they think about you,” the congresswoman said on the stream.
Hinchcliffe replied to Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks to claim she has “no sense of humor” and claimed it was wild of Walz to “take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist.”
“I love Puerto Rico and vacation there,” Hinchcliffe added. “I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian Tim…might be time to change your tampon.”
“You don’t ‘love Puerto Rico,’” Ocasio-Cortez hit back. “You like drinking piña coladas. There’s a difference.”
Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, said in a statement to the Post: “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Harris Moves To Capitalize On Puerto Rican Outrage Over Racist Joke At Trump Rally
Lilli Petersen Mon 28 October 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign moved to capitalize on outrage following a comedian’s racist attempt at a joke targeted at Puerto Ricans at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Sunday, releasing an ad targeted at the community, who have a substantial presence in swing-state Pennsylvania.
The 30-second TV ad, which will air in key swing states, referenced both the “island of garbage” line from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and Trump’s infamous visit to the U.S. territory in the aftermath of 2017’s devastating hurricanes Irma and Maria, when the then-president chucked rolls of paper towels into a crowd of people who had gathered to receive vital emergency supplies. The Trump administration was widely criticized for what many saw as an inadequate response to the hurricanes, which killed an estimated 3,000 people on the island.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did. He abandoned the island and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults,” a voiceover from Harris says as images of Trump tossing supplies are shown.
“Puerto Rico deserves better,” the ad says.
Though offensive remarks from Trump and his supporters are nothing new, Harris’ presidential campaign is hoping the specificity of Hinchcliffe’s joke ― targeting a specific community of Latino voters ― and its proximity to the election means it can make a difference in swing states, especially Pennsylvania.
The joke came as part of Trump’s wild rally Sunday night at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Speeches from a wide variety of Trumpworld operatives and supporters included now-standard attacks on migrants, suggestions that the United States has become a crime-riddled disaster and even echoes of an infamous 1939 Nazi rally at the same venue.
“These Latinos, they love making babies, too,” said Hinchcliffe, among the many speakers who filled up the five-plus hours before Trump appeared. “There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.”
“There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said later, as the crowd seemed to groan and chuckle uncomfortably.
The Trump campaign made a halfhearted attempt to distance itself from the “joke,” releasing a statement later that night saying that it did “not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
And vice presidential nominee JD Vance tried to do damage control on Monday. “Maybe it’s a stupid, racist joke; maybe it is not,” the Ohio senator said at a rally stop in Wisconsin. “But we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America. I’m so over it.”
But whether or not Vance is “so over it,” it’s clear that many, many other people are not.
A number of high-profile Latino celebrities and public figures quickly slammed the “joke,” including Puerto Rican musicians Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin, all of whom have endorsed Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. “This is what they think of us,” Martin wrote in Spanish on his Instagram story, sharing a clip of Hinchcliffe.
“This was a hate rally,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who is Puerto Rican, said during a Wednesday morning appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when she was asked about the “island of garbage” remark.
“This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally,” she continued. “Donald Trump and that entire cadre of people up on that stage, Stephen Miller, et cetera, do not respect the law of the United States of America. And they either want to win this election or they are using rhetoric of taking it by force. That is what they mean, and that is what they are doing when they are inciting violence and hatred against Latinos, against Black Americans, against Americans who don’t have children.”
Indeed, the remarks fit into a staple of Trump’s campaign rhetoric: xenophobic fearmongering about immigrants and non-white people. In recent weeks, Vance and Trump have pushed weird and baseless claims that Haitian immigrants are eating household pets and that undocumented immigrants are going to illegally vote in massive numbers in order to steal the election in November. They have even seemed to endorse the white supremacist “great replacement theory,” which asserts there is conspiracy to bring immigrants to the United States to have babies in order to outnumber the white population.
“The Democrat Party has forgotten about Americans,” Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said at Sunday night’s rally. “Rather than cater to Americans, they decided, you know what, it would just be easier to replace them with people who would be reliable voters.”
Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. As of 2021, there were 5.8 million Puerto Ricans living in the United States, and, notably, they make up a substantial portion of the Latino vote in swing states including Georgia and Pennsylvania.
In Pennsylvania, a pivotal battleground for the 2024 election, Puerto Ricans make up about 8% of the total population. And in Georgia, where in 2021 Trump famously attempted to pressure officials after the election to “find” him the 11,780 votes he needed to win the state, there are around 87,000 Puerto Ricans of voting age.
Marc Anthony Says Of Trump Rally Swipe At Puerto Rico: “This I Won’t Forget”
Ted Johnson Mon, October 28, 2024
Marc Anthony is the latest Puerto Rican recording artist to speak out against a Trump-supporting comedian’s swipe at the U.S. territory as “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
“This I won’t forget,” Anthony wrote on Instagram below a video of Tony Hinchcliffe’s remarks at a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Anthony also posted video of Kamala Harris talking about her plans for Puerto Rico, and he reposted a video he made earlier this month in which he referred to Donald Trump’s previous remarks about the island.
“Even though some have forgotten, I remember what it was like when Donald Trump was president,” Anthony said. “I remember what he did and said about Puerto Rico, about our people.”
Anthony said that after Hurricane Maria “devastated our island, Trump blocked billions in relief while thousand died.” The video then featured a clip of Trump throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans needing emergency assistance.
Anthony also reminded that Trump referred to some Mexican immigrants as “criminals” and “rapists,” and of his administration’s family separation policy.
Other entertainers, including Ricky Martin, also posted about Hinchcliffe’s remarks, while Jennifer Lopez and Bad Bunny expressed her support for Harris.
The vice president was asked about the rally earlier in the day, telling reporters, “It is just more of the same, and maybe more vivid than usual. Donald Trump spent the whole time trying to have Americans point the finger at each other, to fan the fuel of hate and division. And that is why people are exhausted with him.”
The Harris campaign also was up with an ad tied to Hinchcliffe’s remarks, while the Trump campaign tried to distance itself from the comedian’s remark. Up to now, polls had shown Trump making inroads with Latino voters.
“I’ve heard about the joke. I haven’t actually seen the joke that you mentioned,” JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, told reporters today. “…Can we all just take a chill pill, and take a joke from time to time?”
Hinchcliffe wasn’t the only speaker who generated a backlash. Another referred to Harris as the “antichrist,” and another said that she has “pimp handlers.” Tucker Carlson called her “Samoan-Malaysian” and a “low IQ former California prosecutor.”
‘Fox & Friends’ Immediately Walks Back Its Own Trump MSG Racism Claim Sean Craig Mon 28 October 2024
The cohosts of Fox & Friends speak with Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Well, that was fast.
Mere seconds after Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy acknowledged “offensive comments about Latinos and Puerto Ricans and African Americans” were made at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, his colleague Brian Kilmeade attacked journalists for reporting on those comments.
The Sunday rally’s first speaker was comedian and podcaster Tony Hinchcliffe, who made a series of vulgar jokes about groups the former president’s campaign is actively trying to woo in the days before the election.
That included a remark that Latinos “love making babies, there’s no pulling out, they come inside, just like they do to our country.” Hinchliffe also made a comment about Black people and watermelons, invoking a long-standing racist trope, and called the U.S. territory Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.”
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement, addressing Hinchliffe’s comment on Puerto Rico.
On Monday’s Fox & Friends, Doocy was quick to point out the remarks and note the backlash from within the GOP.
“There was a comic who made some offensive comments about Latinos and Puerto Ricans and African-Americans and others,” he said, adding Hinchcliffe had been denounced by some Republicans and that even the Trump campaign distanced itself from him.
That did not stop Kilmeade from immediately stepping all over the moment in a baffling, instantaneous backpedal.
“It’s amazing, the cover of The New York Times: ‘Trump at Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism’” he said, reading a Times headline about the racist remarks at Trump’s rally mere seconds after his co-host acknowledged the racist remarks at Trump’s rally. “Only somebody who worked for the Harris campaign and [was] pretending to be a reporter for The New York Times would write something like that.”
Later during the broadcast, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told the show that the Madison Square Garden crowd “didn’t mind” Hinchliffe’s jokes.
Most of Hinchliffe’s material fell flat and was met with indifference—though some bits prompted groans—in one of the more awkward speeches of the night.
That was an impressive feat given Trump supporter David Rem called Vice President Kamala Harris the “anti-Christ,” finfluencer Grant Cardone alleged Harris has “pimp handlers,” and radio personality Sid Rosenberg called Trump’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton a “sick son of a b----.”
Fox & Friends host defends racist Puerto Rico joke at Trump’s MSG rally: ‘It’s comedy’
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Hinchcliffe told Trump’s suporters. “Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”
Hinchcliffe also said that Latinos “love making babies, there’s no pulling out, they come inside, just like they do to our country.” He also commented on Black people and watermelons, referencing a long-standing racist trope. Tony Hinchcliffe speaks at Donald Trump’s rally in New York City on Sunday. The comedian referred to Puerto Rico as a ‘floating island of garbage’ in his set, prompting immediate backlash and causing the Trump campaign to distance itself from him (AP)
Fox & Friends host Lawrence Jones defended his set after his colleague Steeve Doocy brought up the incident on Sunday’s episode of Fox & Friends, noting Hinchcliffe made some “offensive comments about Latinos and Puerto Rico.”
“Unfortunately for the Trump campaign, the Harris campaign has denounced it and mobilized influential Puerto Rican influencers like Bad Bunny,” Doocy said.
Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade then slammed critical media coverage of the event.
Jones responded by noting that Hinchcliffe’s set caused the campaign to “lose goodwill” but defended him, calling his remarks “comedy.”
“You lose goodwill when before that rally even started, they called it a Nazi rally,” Jones said. “Before they even took the stage, they had already said that it was going to be a racist rally.”
“I have a dark sense of humor, you know, and so I, like…maybe this was not the appropriate format for the comedian to be there? But it’s comedy,” he added. Trump’s campaign is now distancing itself from Hitchcliffe’s remarks, noting his joke ‘does not reflect the views’ of the former president (AFP via Getty Images)
Criticisms of Hinchcliffe’s performance are rolling in across social media, with celebrities and lawmakers alike weighing in.
Luis Fonsi, a Peurto Rican artist best known for his hit “Despacito,” denounced the “racist” joke on Instagram.
“It’s ok to have different views, and I respect those who think different than me…but going down this RACIST path ain’t it,” Fonsi wrote.
“We are not OK with this constant hate,” he continued. “It’s been abundantly clear that these people have no respect for us and yet they want our vote. OH yeah, and I purposely wrote this in English cause yes, we’re American too.”
Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin also shared the clip of Hinchcliffe’s remark, writing, “This is what they think of us. Vote for @kamalaharris.”
Trump’s own campaign is now distancing itself from Hinchcliffe.
“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior advisor Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Even Republican lawmakers are speaking out against Hinchcliffe.
“Disgusted by @TonyHinchcliffe’s racist comment calling Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,’” GOP Representative María Elvira Salazar wrote on X. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values. Puerto Rico sent 48,000+ soldiers to Vietnam, with over 345 Purple Hearts awarded. This bravery deserves respect.”
Republican Senator Rick Scott said the “joke bombed for a reason.”
“It’s not funny and it’s not true,” he posted on X. “Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans! I’ve been to the island many times. It’s a beautiful place. Everyone should visit! I will always do whatever I can to help any Puerto Rican in Florida or on the island.”
The Independent has contacted Hinchcliffe’s manager, Alex Murray, for comment.
People Are Genuinely Shocked By Geraldo Rivera's Tweet About That Comedian's Racist Comments About Puerto Rico
Matt Stopera Mon, October 28, 2024
Donald Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden in NYC this weekend.
Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images
Dr. Phil showed up. Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk shouted. Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images
And a comedian named Tony Hinchcliffe made a racist joke about Puerto Rico. Michael S. Schwartz / WireImage
He said, "There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico."
The overall consensus is: "How the f*ck am I agreeing with Geraldo, but here we are."
Opinion: Trump's racist Madison Square Garden rally was everything America shouldn't be
Rex Huppke, USA TODAY Updated Mon, October 28, 2024
At Donald Trump’s racist, hate-filled Madison Square Garden rally this weekend, the Republican Party got a look at rock bottom, and American voters got a glimpse of the babbling hell that awaits them if Trump wins reelection next week.
The event was ugly, with racist jokes about Puerto Ricans and Black people. It was weird, with appearances by wrestler Hulk Hogan, the now-nearly-destitute Rudy Giuliani and some hack radio host who said of the Democratic Party: “The whole f---ing party, a bunch of degenerates, lowlifes, Jew-haters.”
The rally was an insult to decency, an hours-long freak show fully endorsed by the GOP thanks to an appearance by House Speaker Mike Johnson. It sent shock waves across the country, drawing condemnation even from Republican lawmakers and earning the Trump campaign headlines like:
Trump's Madison Square Garden rally was a festival of hate and conspiracy
US comedian Tony Hinchcliffe speaks during a campaign rally for former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 27, 2024.
Trump’s massive ego demanded a rally in New York City, even though New York is a reliabily blue state. What the former president got was a self-inflicted October surprise, one that will define him and the entire Republican Party from now until Election Day.
Sunday’s rally started with an alleged comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, saying: “I don’t know if you guys know this but there’s literally a floating island of grbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.
He followed up with additional racism: “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." He went on to spin that garbage into a graphic sexual joke.
Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk and Stephen Miller – yikes
Hulk Hogan tears his shirt during a rally for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, U.S. October 27, 2024.
At one point, the Madison Square Garden crowd started mocking Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, by chanting “Tampon Tim!” Trump showed up to MSG and made things even worse
Once Trump took the stage, he continued the insanity, repeating his un-American claims that those who don’t support him are “the enemy from within” and saying: “For the past nine years we have been fighting against the most sinister and corrupt forces on earth.” Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris alongside Philadelphia City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada (R) greets supporters at Freddy & Tony’s Restaurant, a locally-owned Puerto Rican restaurant on October 27, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.More
He called Harris “a low-IQ individual” and, fully unhinged, said the United States “is now an occupied country.”
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Trump's rally was a gift for Harris and Democrats
In total, it was more than five hours of anger, conspiracies, veiled and not-at-all veiled racism, and growling, low-brow nonsense. It was a look down the pit of shame the Republican Party has lowered itself into with its slavish devotion to Trump. It was, objectively, a political disaster, alienating huge swaths of voters, from the Puerto Rican community to the Black community to the “people who don’t think horrible people should get elected” community.
Supporters of Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump gather outside at Madison Square Garden before a campaign rally on October 27, 2024 in New York City. Trump's appearance in the traditionally Democratic city comes less than two weeks before the presidential election.More
So now there’s a week left in which Republicans will be fully defined by this hateful buffoon, by this convicted felon they willingly joined for a lenthgy drag through the mud. The party showed America and the world, clear as day, that it’s a big tent shy of a circus.
The question now is whether voters will look at clips of Sunday’s rally, hear the justified outrage and feel repulsed.
Is that chaos and cruelty what they want for the next four years? Is that who we are? Should Trump’s invidious personality be the face of America?
If your answers to those questions are “no,” “no” and “hell no,” I have a suggestion: Keep the vile images of that rally in your mind, and vote so hard it leaves your arm sore.
Tony Hinchcliffe Called Puerto Rico a ‘Floating Island of Garbage’: His Hate Disguised as Comedy Wasn’t Funny or a Joke
Clayton Davis Sun, October 27, 2024
I am Puerto Rican, and my country is no “floating island of garbage.” But the people who think that sure are — even if it’s disguised as humor.
When comedian Tony Hinchcliffe took the stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday for a MAGA rally in support of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he didn’t just cross a line — he fully erased it. What he called “humor” was a continuous stream of racist insults and dangerous conspiracy theories, from stereotypes about Latinos making multiple babies, to the “great replacement theory,” the ideology behind violent hate crimes committed by white men against communities of color. This isn’t a joke. It’s a weapon, and I’m fucking tired of being the target, and so are the rest of my people.
Growing up as a Puerto Rican and Black American, I was aware early on that I stood out among many of my classmates and neighbors. I’ve learned to take pride in my roots, believing that America was a place where everyone, despite their differences, belonged. But that notion has shifted sharply as I grew older and witnessed the rise of Trump and the MAGA movement, which cast people who look like me as the villains in a story we’d never written. This shift has forced me, and countless other Latinos, to confront a painful reality: in today’s America, we’ve become the scapegoats in a narrative of fear, blamed and vilified to suit a political agenda.
Being labeled “an invader” or “an alien” is more than just an insult. It’s a form of dehumanization that chips away at one’s sense of belonging. Hearing those words echoed in speeches, on social media and in public policy doesn’t just hurt — it frightens. It’s one thing when the words come from a stranger, but it’s something else when it comes from a podium, wrapped in an alleged seal of patriotism.
When Hinchcliffe responded to the criticism of his performance on X, addressing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz, he wrote: “These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set. I’m a comedian, Tim…might be time to change your tampon.”
You vacation in Puerto Rico? Might as well say you can’t be racist because you have a Black friend. And context? Hinchcliffe firmly placed himself firmly in the center of this “context.” This wasn’t “jokes.” It was hostility veiled as comedy, delivered with the arrogance of someone who doesn’t understand — or care — how these words impact real lives.These words don’t only hurt Latinos; they ripple through every marginalized community. When one group is vilified, it sets a precedent that any group can be targeted. The anti-immigrant sentiment championed by Trump and echoed by his followers delivers the message loud and clear: when people show you who they are, believe them.
Today, it’s Puerto Ricans. Tomorrow, it will be Mexicans again. A few weeks ago, it was Haitians eating dogs and cats. America’s strength, at least the version of America i thought I knew, has always come from the diversity of its people. We are allowing hate disguised as comedy, or hate straight up, to take the reins. I’m begging for us to reject it.
And here’s a stark reminder for you, Tony: Over 4,000 Puerto Ricans died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria due to the failed response under the Trump administration. That wasn’t a punchline. It was negligence that morphed into a tragedy. Your so-called “comedy” does not absolve you from the harm caused by your message tonight that you normalize and perpetuate. It will be played on loop in every MAGA party (I’m sure you’ll be attending), and we don’t expect you to apologize. You never do.
People who know “Kill Tony” may recall May 2021. Hinchcliffe found his way into the eye of the “cancel culture” storm. A racial slur hurled at fellow comedian and Asian American Peng Dang during a gig in Austin, Texas, catapulted him into a whirlwind of backlash. The incident, caught on video and circulated widely on Twitter, resulted in Hinchcliffe being dropped by his talent agency, WME.
He doubled down further in October 2023, when he stirred the pot further by appearing on the controversial far-right YouTube show “TRIGGERnometry,” where conspiracy theories are tossed around like popcorn. This time, he painted Dang as “a Chinese spy,” claiming the incident was “an orchestrated attack by the Chinese media.”
When hate is celebrated under the guise of humor, its roots only deepen.
It doesn’t have to be this way. If we refuse to accept this hate as “just politics” or “just jokes,” we can find a way back to one another. No one is trying to stifle comedy. I’m an advocate of the art form but we must hold leaders, entertainers, and everyday people accountable for their words and actions.
In the upcoming election, we have a choice. We can let Tony feel “vindicated” and be right about the picture he painted so erroneously tonight, allowing hate to shape decisions. Or we can choose compassion, understanding and unity. We can reject the politics of division and work to bridge the gaps between us rather than building walls that tear us apart.
I’m reminded of something comedian Anthony Jeselnik said last year on Theo Von’s podcast “This Past Weekend,” when he said, “All these comics now think, almost the point of it is to get in trouble. ‘I’m a comic. I’m allowed to say whatever I want.’ That’s wrong.”
Jeselnik then quotes Andy Warhol: “Art is getting away with it.” If people are mad, then you didn’t get away with it.
So no, Tony, I don’t think you’re getting away with this one.
Comedian at Trump rally mocks Puerto Rico, gets mixed reaction from crowd
Brett Samuels Sun, October 27, 2024
(The Hill) — A speaker at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday spent a portion of his time attacking Puerto Rico, drawing backlash from Democrats and the Harris campaign.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by Kill Tony, delivered a set to the crowd ahead of the former president’s speech.
“There’s a lot going on. Like, I don’t know if you know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said, eliciting mixed reactions from the crowd.
The remarks, particularly about Puerto Rico, were swiftly condemned by Democrats.
“As a Puerto Rican, I am tempted to call Hinchcliffe racist garbage but doing so would be an insult to garbage,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) posted on the social platform X. “When casting their ballots at the voting booth, Latinos should never forget the racism that Donald Trump seems all too willing to platform.”
Harris campaign aides noted Hinchcliffe’s remarks came as Vice President Harris was in Philadelphia speaking at a Puerto Rican restaurant, where she detailed her plans to assist the island and bolster its electrical grid.
Other Democrats pointed out that hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania, which is shaping up to be one of the most critical battlegrounds on Election Day.
“Who wants to tell these guys there are ~ HALF A MILLION Puerto Ricans living in Battleground PA, whose votes are up for grabs?” Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump White House official who is an outspoken critic of the former president, posted on the social platform X.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE
Americans in Puerto Rico can't vote for US president. Their anger at Trump is shaping the race
DÁNICA COTO Updated Mon, October 28, 2024
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A comic calling Puerto Rico garbage before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment, residents said Monday in expressions of fury that could affect the presidential election.
Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, but they can exert a powerful influence with relatives on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing minutes after the speaker derided the U.S. territory Sunday night, and they still buzzed Monday.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is competing with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly after stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe said that, “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny announced he was backing Harris.
Hinchcliffe's set also included lewd and racist comments about Latinos, Jews and Black people, all key constituencies in the election.
Non-voters with big influence
Milagros Serrano, 81, has a son who lives in the swing state of Pennsylvania and said the entire family was outraged by the comedian’s comments.
“He can’t be talking about Puerto Rico like that,” she said as she left for a medical appointment. “He’s the one who’s a piece of garbage."
The United States acquired Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. The U.S. government bestowed American citizenship to the island's residents in 1917. Soon after World War II, the first large migration began to ease labor shortages on the U.S. mainland. There are now more Puerto Ricans in the U.S. than on the island.
Those who stayed behind say they often feel like second-class citizens because they can't vote in presidential elections and receive limited federal funding compared with U.S. states.
That festering resentment erupted when Trump visited Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria slammed into the island as a powerful Category 4 storm in 2017. He tossed paper towels into a crowd and denied the storm’s official death toll, with experts estimating that nearly 3,000 people died in the sweltering aftermath.
After Sunday's rally, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, Danielle Alvarez, said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s joke did “not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
José Acevedo, a 48-year-old health worker from San Juan, shook his head as he recalled the feelings that coursed through him when he watched the rally.
“What humiliation, what discrimination!” he said early Monday as he waited to catch a public bus to work.
Acevedo said he immediately texted relatives in New York, including an uncle who is a Republican and had planned to vote for Trump.
“He told me that he was going to have to analyze his decision,” Acevedo said, adding that his relatives were in shock. “They couldn’t believe it.”
Angry reaction at home
The comments dominated local news sites late into the night and prompted Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress for the pro-statehood New Progressive Party and a Trump supporter, to call them “despicable, misguided and disgusting.”
“They do not represent the values of the GOP,” she said.
Politics in Puerto Rico are defined by the island’s political status, so it’s common to see Democrats and Republicans be members of the same local party.
Meanwhile, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi, a Democrat, wrote on Facebook: “Garbage is what came out of Tony Hinchcliffe’s mouth, and everyone who applauded him should feel ashamed for disrespecting Puerto Rico.”
Sonia Pérez, a 58-year-old parking lot attendant, said she hasn’t voted for a governor in years but is so angry about the comedian’s comments and González’s support for Trump that she plans to reject González and the other candidate representing the two main parties that have long dominated in Puerto Rico.
“It is outrageous that in the 21st century there is so much racism against Latinos when we have contributed so much to the country and it is not recognized,” she said.
Disbelief and indignation
Hinchcliffe’s comments also prompted reaction from Puerto Rican stars including Ricky Martin, who previously endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. He posted a video of the crude joke and wrote, “This is what they think of us.”
Outraged Puerto Ricans posted pictures of their island and its bright turquoise waters on social media with captions including: “I live where you vacation” and “Proud to be from the garbage island.”
Michael Meléndez Ortiz, a 33-year-old unemployed janitor, said he and a friend thought the video was fake at first because they were so taken aback by what the comedian said.
“We must be respected,” he said. “We are good and upstanding people.”
Surviving Trump’s Hate-Filled Takeover of Madison Square Garden
Ryan Bort Mon 28 October 2024 at 12:55 pm GMT-6·11-min read
Midtown Manhattan is not usually a place to find someone wearing a Make America Great Again hat. Donald Trump lost the New York City borough by nearly 75 points in 2020, and by even more than that four years earlier. But on Sunday, ahead of Trump’s mega-rally at Madison Square Garden, the area was overrun with red apparel and a seemingly unlimited variety of memes glorifying the former president and denigrating his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
“I like this city for the first time in my life,” a young man said giddily as he and his friends rounded the corner of 33rd and 6th on his way to get in line for the rally. “This is wonderful.”
The MAGA horde, like New York City itself, was incredibly diverse, and largely in from out of town. They came from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Westchester County, most of them here to see “the man,” as a 24-year-old from Connecticut put it to me, for the first time. Young Republicans waited stoically in their suits while a dude in a “I WAS GOING TO BE A DEMOCRAT FOR HALLOWEEN BUT MY HEAD COULDN’T FIT UP MY ASS” shirt passed a joint to his friends — or perhaps to people he’d just met. Others brown-bagged tall cans of beer. “U-S-A!” and “Fight! Fight! Fight!” chants bubbled up and died down. A passing pickup truck honked in solidarity.
Trump’s stop in New York City, with less than two weeks until Election Day, was unorthodox, given that New York is a solidly blue state. He described his Madison Square Garden party as a “celebration” last week, and the event did indeed feel more like a pre-emptive victory party than something intended to make inroads with any particular voting bloc. Trump has said he thinks he can win New York, a prospect that was dubious even to some of the MAGA faithful I spoke to on Sunday, although everyone felt he had the national race in the bag. msg trump rally
“No,” George Santos, the disgraced former New York congressman, said flatly when I asked him if Trump had a chance to win the state. Why was he holding this massive event here this close to Election Day, then? “I think this is more about creating enough momentum in the state to help candidates down-ballot,” said Santos. New York Republicans flipping several seats in 2022 helped the party take control of the House of Representatives and retaining those seats this year will go a long way toward holding control of the chamber. They already lost one of them when Republicans kicked the scandal-ridden Santos out of Congress last December.
“Don’t you think he should have had some of those candidates on the roster of speakers tonight, then?” I asked.
“It’s up to those candidates whether they would have wanted to.”
“Well, I’m sure they would have wanted to. But they’re not on the list.”
“Allegiances run shallow in Republican circles,” Santos claimed. “You’d be shocked.”
George Santos
In truth, the Madison Square Garden rally was not about down-ballot races. It was about Trump making his home city part of his 2024 campaign story — a big, glitzy, historic part of it, in the city’s most storied venue. The lineup was a who’s who of his political movement, featuring nearly 30 speakers, including Elon Musk, Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance, Robert Kennedy Jr., Dana White, Stephen Miller, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Trump’s sons, plus a gaggle of lower-tier MAGA personalities. Many of them alluded to the building’s history, while scoffing at comparisons the increasingly openly fascist Trump’s rally has drawn to a Nazi rally there on the eve of World War II.
The rally, as has been the case with pretty much every Trump event since he announced his 2016 candidacy a few blocks north inside Trump Tower, was focused on immigration. Most of the supporters I spoke to outside the venue cited it as their top issue, and they all had stories of how bad things had gotten. Robert, a 65-year-old who was here from Sarasota selling Trump merch, claimed he unwittingly stayed in a motel in Phoenix that the Biden administration had commandeered to house migrants, and when he got to his room there were “people shooting up dope, puking blood all over.” He said migrants were peering into his car looking for stuff to steal.
Robert’s story was somehow tame compared to the fear-mongering, grievance-airing, and hate the speakers spewed inside the venue. One of the first to take the stage, a nakedly racist comedian named Tony Hinchcliffe, called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage” and joked about a Black man in the audience carving watermelons at a Halloween party. The comments have drawn bipartisan backlash. Trump’s campaign tried to distance itself from Hinchcliffe later in the day, only for Donald Trump Jr. to repost one of his tweets griping that people can’t take a joke.
Scott Lobaido
The speaker after Hinchcliffe, an artist named Scott Lobaido, put up his middle finger as a message to the New York art world that had rejected him. Then came conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg, who called Hillary Clinton a “sick son of a bitch,” maligned “fucking illegals,” and complained that he didn’t get as much time as the comedian or the artist. Real estate investor Grant Cardone bashed the “scumbag liberal judge” who presided over Trump’s New York criminal trial, and mocked Harris’ “pimp handlers.” David Rem, billed as a childhood friend of Trump’s, called Harris “the devil” and “the antichrist” before brandishing a crucifix and announcing he was running for mayor of New York City.
The gleeful mudslinging continued as a trio of surprise guests were rolled out after the requisite appearances from a handful of MAGA politicians and Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who intoned that “America is for Americans and Americans only.”
Tucker Carlson took the stage to huge applause before maniacally mocking Harris as “a Samoan, Malaysian, low-IQ former California prosecutor” who couldn’t possibly win the election, while praising Trump for liberating the nation “from the obligation to tell lies.” He was followed by Hulk Hogan, who ripped off his shirt, growled what seemed to be a crude joke about Harris, and spent several minutes after he finished speaking flexing and striking poses as his theme song played. Then there was Dr. Phil, who has apparently replaced Dr. Oz as MAGA’s designated Oprah-connected quack medical professional.
I’d been in my seat for over five hours at this point, and I was starting to wonder whether this much continuous exposure to bilious MAGA talking points, to garish red and blue lighting and jumbotron graphics depicting migrant gang members ready to move in next door and kill me, was beginning to warp my conception of reality. Was a totally packed Madison Square Garden really chanting “Doc-tor Phil! Doc-tor Phil! Doc-tor Phil!” right now, or was I hallucinating? Trump was already supposed to have taken the stage and there were still a bunch of speakers left. Was this event ever going to end? Was this hell? trump msg rally
Thankfully, Dr. Phil’s somnolent drawl brought me back to earth in time to register what may have been the most ironic argument of the night given everything that had come before it. Democrats are the real bullies, he tried to explain, touting himself as an expert on the subject. “Bullying is when you seek to harm somebody, you seek to intimidate, coerce, cause distress, fear, risk to their well-being,” he said. “It can be physical, verbal, relation, or cyberbullying. It’s always wrong.”
Trump may be the most famous and prototypical bully this nation has ever produced, of course, and the thrill he and his supporters derive from demeaning and, in many cases, dehumanizing the Americans who oppose them, or migrants seeking refuge and safety, coursed through Midtown Manhattan on Sunday. It was on the streets in the apparel they wore and sold — including one shirt depicting Trump in a Hannibal Lecter mask and the words “EAT THE DEMS” — and it was in Madison Square Garden whenever a speaker would invoke, say, “Tampon Tim!” or level a misogynist attack against Harris.
This was particularly true when Trump was onstage. The crowd was relatively subdued as the former president droned through his usual rally routine, but any deviation to insult Harris’ intelligence or call the press the “enemy of the people” sent a spark through the arena. Trump’s supporters didn’t travel from other states to hear him talk about the economy. They came to hear him riff on “Sleepy Joe,” to demean and to give them permission to demean others, themselves. It’s why seats were empty by the time Trump gave his closing spiel about making America great again, before bringing out opera singer Christopher Maccio to belt a rendition of “New York, New York.”
The MAGA faithful were still riding high outside of the Garden after Trump finished. They chanted. They took photos in front of the arena. They crowded around Sarah Palin, who wore a short fur coat and posed for selfies. One young Trump fan in a shirt featuring nothing but the former president’s outstretched fist from the aftermath of the Butler assassination attempt chatted with her for a few seconds before walking away with a girl and letting the scrum close back around Palin.
“Who was that?” the girl asked.
“She used to be the governor of Alaska,” he said. trump rally msg
Topher Townsend, a TikTok influencer and rapper, posed for pictures with fans a few yards away in his classic red MAGA hat. I asked him about the night and what he made of Trump coming to New York City at such a key juncture of the race. “We might not win New York this time around, but he sent a message that New York is not safe,” he said. “He’s coming out to places that are typically blue, and I think that’s what Republicans should be doing. So often we just sit back and relax, and that’s how we lost Georgia last time. We didn’t think it was a swing state until they made it one. So no one thinks New York is a swing state until we make it one.”
“After tonight and looking at what’s going on now,” he said, gesturing to other red hats outside the Garden, “you can tell that it’s Trump country, baby.”
It was still New York City, though. As I turned the corner, I noticed two men arguing with a group of Trump supporters. One of them preached about protecting womens’ right to control their own bodies, while the other went back and forth with someone far younger than him who claimed Martin Luther King Jr. would endorse Trump if he were alive today. The man’s wife was trying to get him to follow her toward the subway as he pushed back.
“Bye, Darryl! Bye!” she called back at him, feigning like she was going to leave without him. “Why waste your time with an idiot?”
I walked over and asked her what she thought about what was happening. “I think it’s disgusting,” she said. “Everyone is entitled to their rights, but you have someone who is 25-years-old trying to debate with someone who is 59-years-old and whose father walked with Martin Luther King.”
trump msg rally
Darryl, a native of Hollis Queens, caught up with us a few minutes later. He explained that his father walked with King in the ‘60s, and that a real leader is supposed to represent all cultures, not talk negatively about them. He talked about how Trump made fun of disabled people, how he botched the government’s response to Covid-19, and how it’s time to give a younger generation a chance. “This rally here, I don’t know if it separates New York and gets people upset,” he said. “[Trump] gets people upset. He riles people up. He riles me up.”
I asked him what he made of Trump saying he’s going to win New York, and all the people out here wearing MAGA hats that he had to navigate. “We’ll see what happens,” he says. “Everybody has to get out and vote on Election Day. Hopefully New York stands behind the standards of right and wrong. I’m for right and wrong and equal rights. If you’re wrong, you shouldn’t be president.”
Darryl and his wife descended into the subway, and I walked a few blocks in the other direction to get on my train. I didn’t see any MAGA hats down in the station. A few people stood watching a guy play electric blues guitar on the platform, seemingly unaware of what had been going on a few hundred yards away. Pictured: MAGA fans pack streets outside of Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden
Ariana Baio Sun 27 October 2024
THE INDEPENDENT Pictured: MAGA fans pack streets outside of Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden
Trump, and 29 of his allies, held a rally at the historic arena just days ahead of the presidential election.
Even in New York City, a Democratic stronghold that Trump has virtually no chance of winning, the former president’s influence inspired thousands to take to the streets.
This man showed up dressed as North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un with a Trump lookalike to say hello to Trump rally attendees at 10 a.m. Supporters cheered and applauded the man as they waited in line to get into Madison Square Garden (Ariana Baio / The Independent) This group of Trump supporters waved flags, played music and cheered for people who lined up to attend the rally – encouraging them to also support the former president. Crowds were waiting for hours to get into the New York City venue (Ariana Baio / The Independent) This man, wearing a ‘Let’s Go Brandon!’ pullover was so excited to pose for cameras as he walked into The Garden (Ariana Baio / The Independent) Anti-Trump protestors hold a “Welcome to your Nazi rally” banner outside of MSG – a reference to the infamous 1939 Nazi rally held at the arena (Getty Images) Trump supporters took over the sidewalks on Sunday in Midtown Manhattan, much to the chagrin of New Yorkers going about their day (Getty Images) Trump supporters who camped outside of MSG overnight for front-row seats to the rally left behind piles of garbage, including blankets and lawn chairs (Ariana Baio / The Independent) Police usher hundreds of Trump supporters from 32nd Street into the entrance of Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon (Ariana Baio / The Independent) Groups of people showed up with signs, cutouts, flags, noisemakers and more in celebration of Donald Trump. The president was holding the “closing argument” rally just over a week before Election Day (AP) An anti-Trump protestor holds a sign that says, ‘Con with a cult’ outside of MSG where hundreds of Trump supporters are lined up (Getty Images)
Majority of US voters say democracy is under threat but are split on who to blame, poll shows
Edward Helmore
THE GUARDIAN Mon 28 October 2024 A separate national poll published a day earlier found that Kamala Harris was deadlocked with Donald Trump as he seeks a return to the White House.Composite: AFP via Getty Images, AP
Nearly half of US voters think government does a poor job of representing ordinary people, half are skeptical that self-governance is working, and three-quarters think democracy is under threat, according to one of the last polls before the 5 November presidential election.
The survey, published on Sunday by the New York Times in collaboration with Siena College, sketched out a deeply divided political landscape. Both sides of the divide expressed distrust of the other – and doubts in general about the US’s brand of democracy.
But they come together with an overall perception: a majority said the country was plagued by corruption, with 62% saying that the government was mostly working to serve itself and elites than any broader purpose of collective good.
Fifty-eight per cent of voters in the survey indicated that the country’s financial and political systems needed major changes or a complete overhaul.
A separate national poll published a day earlier found that Kamala Harris was deadlocked with Donald Trump as he seeks a return to the White House – a slip of three points for the vice-president from a similar poll earlier in October.
That poll sparked fears among some that the Democratic candidate could lose the popular vote – a reversal of the four last elections. Both candidates stand at 48% nationally, down from 49% for Harris and up from 46% for Trump weeks earlier.
One glimmer of positivity from the latest poll surveying trust in US democracy: nearly 80% of voters from both main parties and independents said they trusted the results next week would be accurate, despite Trump’s sustained efforts to question the integrity of the vote in this race and the one he lost to Joe Biden in 2020.
That’s an improvement from two years ago, when only about 70% said they were confident in the results.
But the survey figures also pointed to a deep distrust of the information universe: 21% said the mainstream media was good for democracy, and 55% said it was bad. For social media, 21% of poll respondents said it was good for democracy, and 51% said it was bad.
Assigning overall blame for the division depended on political affiliation, the Times’ poll found.
Democrats defined Trump as the central threat to democracy. Republicans viewed Harris, Biden and Democrats in general as bad for democracy – but also pointed to a subset of concerns including voting by mail, electronic voting machines, immigration and the justice department.
The Times suggested that the Democratic concern about Trump could explain why Harris’s campaign has shifted its initial euphoric tone to a sustained message about a Trump victory representing “a dark slide into fascism”.
Twenty-one per cent – 9% less than two years ago – said it was permissible for a president to go outside the rule of law to achieve their ends. And six in 10 said they were not confident that Trump would accept the results of the 5 November vote if he lost.
But the poll also found that voters did “not necessarily believe” some of Trump’s most inflammatory rhetoric, though experts on authoritarianism have cautioned that it should be taken seriously.
Under half said they believed his threat to use the national guard to handle what Trump has called the “enemy from within”. But three-quarters said they took his threats to deport undocumented immigrants in large scale seriously.
Separately, a CNN poll published on Monday found that 56% of registered voters said they had just some or no trust in the US supreme court and its conservative majority – including three justices appointed during Trump’s presidency – to make the right decisions on any legal cases relating to the 2024 election. Majority of voters say American democracy is ‘currently under threat’: Poll
Sarah Fortinsky
THE HILL Sun 27 October 2024
More than three-quarters of Americans say democracy is currently under threat, according to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll.
Seventy-six percent of likely voters say democracy is “currently under threat,” while only 20 percent say it’s not under threat. Another four percent say they don’t know or refused to answer.
Americans are divided, however, about what the nature of the threat is.
Asked to summarize the nature of the threat, 21 percent say Donald Trump; 14 percent say the government or government corruption; 7 percent say immigrants or immigration; 6 percent say loss of constitutional liberty or damage to institutions; 5 percent say instability or express general sentiments about how bad things are; 5 percent say Democrats; 3 percent say Kamala Harris; 3 percent say Joe Biden; 3 percent say foreign policy/war; 3 percent say misinformation or election denialism; 3 percent say social/political divisions; and no other reason had more than 2 percent support.
The likely electorate is split on which party is good for democracy, with 45 percent saying each party is good for democracy. Twenty-nine percent say Democrats are bad for democracy, and 23 percent say they’re neither bad nor good for democracy; while 26 percent say Republicans are bad for democracy, and 25 percent say they are neither bad nor good for democracy.
The survey comes at the end of a campaign where both sides have said the other is bad for democracy.
The survey included 2,516 voters nationally and was conducted from Oct. 20 to 23. The margin of error is 2.2 percentage points.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
2 new polls show Harris leading Trump as the election nears. Women continue to propel the VP's candidacy.
John L. Dorman Sun 27 October 2024
Kamala Harris' strength with female voters is fueling her overall leads in two new national polls.
A CBS News poll showed Harris up by one point, while an ABC News poll had her ahead by four points.
The presidential race remains close as Harris and Donald Trump stump across the US for votes.
With the US presidential election a little over a week away, the race remains close. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are crisscrossing the country to reach as many voters as possible.
In two major national polls released on Sunday, Harris held narrow advantages over Trump.
In a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, Harris had a four-point lead over Trump (51% to 47%) among likely voters. And in the latest CBS News/YouGov poll, Harris led Trump by one point (50% to 49%) among likely voters.
Harris held a two-point edge in the previous ABC poll, while she held a three-point advantage in the previous CBS poll.
The results reflect a race where both candidates remain competitive in the seven major swing states as they work to turn out as many of their supporters as possible during the early voting periods.
Harris has leaned into the economy and reproductive rights as she makes her closing arguments before voters, while Trump has continued to drive home his message of tackling both inflation and immigration at the US-Mexico border.
With less than 10 days to go before Election Day, the latest survey results reveal just how much women continue to power Harris' lead.
The CBS poll showed Harris with a 12-point advantage (55% to 43%) over Trump among female likely voters. About 55% of female registered voters said Harris would be a strong president, compared to 45% of female voters who said she'd be a weak leader.
Male likely voters in the CBS survey backed Trump over Harris by nine points (54% to 45%), with 64% of male registered voters believing the former president would be a strong leader, compared to 36% who said he'd be weak.
Meanwhile, female registered voters were split down the middle regarding Trump's leadership qualities, with 50% of respondents believing he'd be a strong commander in chief and 50% of respondents saying he'd be a weak leader.
The ABC poll also showed a sizable gender gap, with Harris ahead of Trump by 14 points (56% to 42%) among women, while Trump led with men by a six-point margin (51% to 45%). The vice president was also buoyed by a 19-point lead (59% to 40%) with suburban women, a margin that — if it holds — could prove to be decisive in states like Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Former first lady Michelle Obama campaigned alongside Harris in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday, where she warned against the abortion restrictions put into place by some states following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe. v. Wade.
Obama said she understood the frustrations that many voters had with the "slow pace of change" but implored them not to support Trump or a third-party candidate.
"If we don't get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage," she said. "Are you as men prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them that you supported this assault on our safety?"
New poll finds most voters believe Trump won’t accept election loss
Rhian Lubin and Alicja Hagopian Mon 28 October 2024
The majority of American voters believe Donald Trump will not accept the 2024 presidential election result if he loses to Kamala Harris, according to a new poll.
By contrast, 73 percent believe Harris will accept the election result if she loses.
Zeroing in on sentiment from Harris and Trump supporters, the poll found that 95 percent of Harris supporters do not believe Trump will concede if he loses. A majority (57 percent) of Trump supporters, however, believe he will concede and accept the result if he loses.
The poll also found the vast majority of American voters generally support the principle that candidates have an obligation to accept the election result. It found that 88 percent said losing candidates are obligated to concede once the results are certified in every state, compared to 12 percent who said they are not.
Among Trump supporters, 20 percent said they do not believe losing candidates have an obligation to accept the result compared to 3 percent among Harris supporters.
The poll also found that a majority of all voters have little or no confidence in the Supreme Court if legal challenges relating to the result end up reaching the nation’s highest court.
The polls have tightened as Election Day looms. The latest national New York Times poll has Harris leading by less than one percentage point.
The polls are currently neck-and-neck between Harris and Trump (REUTERS)
Trump is already trying to sow doubts in the outcome of the election.
“But I’m not supposed to say that,” Trump said. “Pretend it’s close, everybody has to. They’re afraid that if you hear that they’re not going to vote.”
“We’ve got to make these elections honorable and honest, and we’re going to do it.”
Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders to stump for Harris in Wisconsin
Joanne Haner Mon 28 October 2024 at 12:16 pm GMT-6·1-min read
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are taking the stage in Madison, Wis., to campaign for Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday night.
Sanders is also scheduled to make an appearance in Oshkosh, Wis., on Monday afternoon. With early voting well underway across the country already, the pair will rally to get out the vote.
Former President Trump is also set to rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday and Friday this week.
With just more than a week left before Election Day, Wisconsin is one of the handful of swing states that could determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Monday shows Trump leading Harris by 1 point among likely voters in Wisconsin, with 48 percent support to Harris’s 47 percent. President Biden won the Badger State in 2020 by just more than 20,000 votes.
The broad Wisconsin survey shows trends similar to those seen in other recent polls of the state. After previously trailing Harris, Trump has gained a very slight edge over the vice president in The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s Wisconsin polling average, with the GOP candidate leading with 48.5 percent support to Harris’s 48.1 percent.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Is Kamala Harris alienating progressives as she courts anti-Trump Republicans?
Robert Tait in Washington Mon 28 October 2024 Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on 21 October. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
As the daughter of a man who drove George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq, Liz Cheney seemed a strange political bedfellow for a Democratic candidate intent on reclaiming disaffected Arab support in one of the US presidential election’s key battlegrounds.
But Cheney, the former third-ranking Republican in Congress before her career was derailed by her enmity with Donald Trump, was cast in precisely that role with Kamala Harris last week.
The pair, whose ideologically conflicting views on abortion and a host of other issues would once have put them at loggerheads, appeared together in the vice-president’s trawl for votes in critical swing states, including Michigan. The state is home to a large ethnic Arab voting bloc that still remembers Dick Cheney’s controversial role as Bush’s vice-president but is now reassessing its traditional pro-Democratic sympathies amid anger over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Trump, who has suggested that Cheney should be tried by a military tribunal for her congressional role in investigating his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, mocked it as a political gift.
“Arab Voters are very upset that Comrade Kamala Harris … is campaigning with ‘dumb as a rock’ War Hawk, Liz Cheney, who, like her father, the man that pushed Bush to ridiculously go to War in the Middle East, also wants to go to War with every Muslim Country known to mankind,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
The argument – however warped in its expression – summarises one part of Harris’s conundrum in Michigan. She faces a serious hurdle after the Uncommitted movement, a pro-Palestinian protest group that is calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war and an arms embargo on Israel, declined to endorse her as she has sought to steer a careful middle path on the issue. The movement won more than 100,000 votes in Michigan when it contested last February’s Democratic primary against Joe Biden when he was still the party’s nominee.
“I don’t think having Liz Cheney on the team helps at all, because she doesn’t bring a flock of votes with her,” said James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute and a member of the Democratic National Committee.
Yet the endorsement from Cheney – along with that of her father, who has also publicly backed the Democratic nominee – highlights a broader aspect of Harris’s campaign; to win, she is relying on the public support of high-profile anti-Trump Republicans to persuade enough hitherto GOP voters to set aside old habits and vote for her on 5 November.
To that end, Harris’s coalition tent has expanded to include a broad swath of anti-Trump Republican refuseniks, including members of his former administration who have pledged themselves to the Democratic nominee in the interests of stopping him.
Among them are Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary, Olivia Troye, a national security adviser to Mike Pence, Miles Taylor, a former homeland security department chief of staff, as well as Adam Kinzinger, a former Illinois congressman who - like Cheney - served on the House of Representatives committee investigating the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol by a Trump-incited mob.
Other Republican Harris-endorsers include Alberto Gonzales, the former attorney general in the Bush administration and a man generally acknowledged as a legal architect of the US torture programme used in the post-9/11 “war on terror”. And last week, Fred Upton a former Michigan congressman who served for three decades before retiring in 2022 after voting to impeach Trump over January 6.
Harris’s campaign has welcomed them all, though few so warmly as Cheney.
When somebody hears Liz Cheney being considered for a cabinet position, that makes people go into the panic mode
James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute
The strategy has been accompanied by Harris moving to the centre by jettisoning previously held leftwing positions such as Medicare for all and support for a fracking ban, while embracing a tougher stance on immigration, Trump’s most emblematic campaign theme.
Prominent Democrat progressives like the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the outspoken House member for New York, have remained quiescent in the interests of maintaining a united front – until now.
Sanders, who had previously defended the vice-president’s retreat from progressive policies as “pragmatic” and essential to “win the election” broke cover last week, warning that her embrace of Republicans risked “losing the working class”.
“The truth of the matter is that there are a hell of a lot more working-class people who could vote for Kamala Harris than there are conservative Republicans,” Sanders – who has spoken at two dozen campaign events for Harris in October alone but, unlike Cheney, not appeared on a podium with her – told the Associated Press.
“She has to start talking more to the needs of working-class people.”
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, a leftwing group founded as a spin-off of Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid, told AP that Harris’s approach could cost her 10% of the progressive vote – with some possibly casting a ballot for Trump.
Zogby agreed. “Having an entire campaign focus on winning over quote-unquote moderate Republicans – and Liz Cheney is not a moderate Republican,” makes voters anxious, he said. “When somebody hears Liz Cheney being considered for a cabinet position, that makes people go into the panic mode. It may actually cost votes.
“There is an importance in reaching moderate Republicans. [But] the definition of a moderate Republican is not somebody who rejects Donald Trump. It’s somebody who espouses policies that are themselves moderate in terms of their economic and foreign policy agenda.”
But Mark Bergman, a veteran Democratic operative who has liaised with Republicans who have offered Harris their support, said that such ideological distinctions overlooked the personal risk many were taking by publicly disavowing Trump.
“These people were not asked by the campaign. They took it upon themselves to act,” Bergman said. “By speaking out, they are putting a target on their backs. They deserve our utmost respect. There are lists of people [to be targeted if Trump wins] floating around. These are real conversations.”
John Conway, strategy director of Republican Voters Against Trump – a group canvassing conservative-leaning voters to back Harris on the grounds that a second Trump presidency would endanger democracy – said it was a “false choice” to cast Harris’s embrace of dissident Republicans as a trade-off with maintaining her Democratic base.
It’s really important that she get all the endorsements from the right she can
John Conway, Republican Voters Against Trump
“This election is going to be decided by what the independents and centre-right swing voters do,” he said. “If Kamala Harris can win enough of them, she can win Pennsylvania, Michigan [and] Wisconsin and reach 270 electoral college votes.”
For the strategy to succeed, Conway argued, Harris needed the example of GOP grandees of Cheney’s stature to win over diehard Republicans repelled by Trump but fearful of crossing a psychological barrier by voting Democrat.
“It’s really important that she get all the endorsements from the right she can. So when somebody like Liz Cheney says, ‘I feel the same way you do. I’ve been a Republican like you’ve been. I’m going to get there on Kamala Harris, because we need to make sure that Donald Trump can never be president again,’ I think that does help [persuade] reluctant Republican voters.”
