By james art Former President Barack Obama crashed former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden during his own event in Philadelphia with John Legend and Bruce Springsteen.
“The warm-up speakers trotted out and peddled the most racist, sexist, bigoted stereotypes,” Obama said Monday. “One guy called Puerto Rico a ‘garbage island.’ These are fellow citizens he is talking about. Here in Philadelphia, they are your neighbors. They are your friends. They are your colleagues. Their children go to school with your children.
Obama argued, “This is why this election should not be close,” adding, “We must reject the kind of politics of division and hate that we have seen presented.”
“Here’s a good rule of thumb: If someone doesn’t respect you, if someone doesn’t see you as fellow citizens with equal claim to opportunity, to the pursuit of happiness, to the American dream, you shouldn’t vote for them,” he said.
The Trump campaign distanced itself from the joke made by Kill Tony on Sunday, with the comedian himself claiming that the joke about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage” was taken out of context.
But that didn’t stop Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign from turning the controversy into a political opportunity a week before the election while she was in Pennsylvania, appealing to the Keystone State’s growing Latino community with Puerto Rican-centric proposals, including promoting economic growth in the community and strengthening the island’s power grid. Approximately 472,000 Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania. President Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by 81,000 votes.
Harris herself led the criticism, arguing that Trump’s rally highlighted that the former president “is focused and actually fixated on his grievances, on himself and on dividing our country.”
“This is in no way something that will strengthen the American family, the American worker,” she said before boarding Air Force Two in Maryland for Michigan. “Nothing he says will actually support the aspirations, dreams and ambitions of the American people.”
Harris’ campaign also created a new ad from the joke and highlighted endorsements from Puerto Rican celebrities such as Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.
During the rest of Obama’s address on Monday, scheduled before early voting in Pennsylvania ends on Tuesday, the former president made one of his strongest arguments against Trump yet.
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“If you’re a Christian and you care deeply about the abortion issue, I understand that, but does that mean you’re going to support someone who appears to be breaking almost every commandment in the 10 Commandments?” he said. “If you’re a Muslim American and you’re upset about what’s happening in the Middle East, why would you believe someone who has adopted a Muslim ban and has repeatedly implied that you’re somehow not part of our American community?”
Harris and Trump are within the margin of error for Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, with Trump averaging 48.1 percent support to Harris’ 47.6 percent, according to RealClearPolitics.