By james art Donald Trump’s rallies in the final weeks of the campaign have been marked by overt racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, and that didn’t stop with the former president’s hometown visit to Madison Square Garden.
The rally at the home of the New York Knicks began with a speech by podcaster and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. The “Kill Tony” host joined the Trump campaign’s recent ramping up of anti-immigrant themes, saying “Latinos like to make babies” and calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”
Hinchliffe’s jokes are part of Trump’s broader disdain for Puerto Rico. During his tenure, he tried to divert federal disaster aid from US territory to help build his border wall. A former homeland security secretary in the administration said Trump had asked if it was possible for the US to sell the island while it was recovering from Hurricane Maria.
The hostility toward Puerto Ricans who are American citizens echoes recent claims made by Trump himself. The former president has promised to deport legal residents who have migrated to the United States and said recent immigrants to the US have turned the country into a “trash bin.”
In addition to the Colorado rally, where Trump spent hours stoking concerns about Latin American immigrants, the former president has repeatedly claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio “eat cats” and other local pets. Despite the claim being debunked by local officials (and his teammate’s admission that the story was made up to support their narrative), Trump continues to push the idea of another immigrant being feared.
Many former members of the Trump administration worry that he is an outspoken “fascist” and will rule like a dictator if allowed a second term.
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