Trump headlines Madison Square Garden rally after vulgar, racist remarks from allies

NEW YORK — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump headlined a rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday that began with a series of vulgar and racist remarks by allies of the former president.

Trump, a New York celebrity for decades, hoped to use the event at the iconic venue known for Knicks basketball games and Billy Joel concerts to deliver his closing argument against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, even though the state last backed a Republican presidential candidate in 1984.

Trump spoke repeatedly about his plans to halt illegal immigration and deport migrants he described as “vicious and bloodthirsty criminals” if he wins the Nov. 5 election.

“On day one I will launch the largest deportation program in American history,” he said. “I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered.”

Trump called Harris a “very low IQ individual” and drew cheers from supporters for his tough-on-migrants rhetoric.

He vowed to ban sanctuary cities, which refuse to cooperate with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws, and to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act law to deport immigrants with criminal records.

A long list of opening speakers varied widely from former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr.

Some used racist and misogynistic language in warming up a capacity crowd.

Giuliani, a former personal lawyer to Trump, falsely claimed that Harris was “on the side of the terrorists” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe used crass language in joking that Latinos “love making babies” and called the Caribbean U.S. territory of Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin posted a clip of the comments on his Instagram and wrote, in Spanish, “This is what they think of us.”

Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told Reuters that the joke about Puerto Rico “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

While Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, residents of the island cannot vote in U.S. general elections.

However, millions of Puerto Ricans who have moved to the mainland United States can vote, and there is a large community in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Harris earlier on Sunday visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania. She posted a video on social media promising to “invest in Puerto Rico’s future” as president.

Harris’s campaign in an email said the Madison Square Garden rally was “mirroring the same dangerously divisive and demeaning message” as Trump.

Trump’s 2016 presidential opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, has accused him of “re-enacting” a pro-Nazi rally that was held at Madison Square Garden in 1939 on the eve of World War Two.

Trump’s critics have long accused him of empowering white supremacists with dehumanizing and racist rhetoric.

Trump rejected the comparison to the 1930s. “This is called Make America Great Again, that’s all this is,” he said on Friday.

“Today this is Donald Trump’s house,” wrestler Hulk Hogan said at the New York event on Sunday. He rejected accusations that Trump is a fascist: “I don’t see any Nazis in here.”

U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, who is supporting Trump’s reelection bid with his X social media platform and enormous wealth , was greeted to the stage with chants of “Elon.”

“This is the kind of positive energy that America is all about,” Musk said.