By james art Trump did not directly mention the dispute during his appearances in Georgia on Monday, choosing instead to parry another criticism of it — that his former White House chief of staff reported that Trump as president said he wished he had “ German generals’. The Harris campaign seized on the comment, and the vice president agreed in a radio interview last week that Trump was a “fascist.”
During a rally Monday night at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Trump instead called Harris a “fascist” and said, “I’m not a Nazi. I am the opposite of a Nazi.”
Trump also warned that Michelle Obama made a “big mistake” by being “nasty” with him in a recent speech.
During his first appearance of the day, the National Faith Summit in Powder Springs, Georgia, conservative activist Gary Bauer asked a question that included unabashed praise for Trump turning Madison Square Garden “into MAGA Square Garden.”
“Great night,” Trump replied.
Trump’s vice-presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, was asked about the insult during an appearance in Wausau, Wisconsin.
“Maybe it’s a stupid racist joke like you said. Maybe not. I haven’t seen it. I’m not going to comment on the specifics of the prank,” Vance said. “But I think we should stop getting so offended about every little thing.”
Harris’ campaign has released an ad that will run online in battleground states targeting Puerto Rican voters and highlighting the comedian’s remarks. The comments earned Harris a show of support from Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny and prompted backlash from Republicans in Florida and Puerto Rico.
Hinchcliffe also made derogatory jokes about blacks, other Latinos, Palestinians and Jews in his routine before Trump’s appearance. On Monday in Pittsburgh, Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, made remarks about anti-Semitism in America, a day after the anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre.
“There’s a fire in this country and we’re either dousing it with water or we’re dousing it with gasoline,” Emhoff said.
Still, Hinchliffe’s quip about Puerto Rico got the most attention, in part because of the geography of the election.
From Labor Day to last weekend, both campaigns made more visits to Pennsylvania than to Georgia, Arizona and Nevada combined, according to Associated Press tracking of public campaign events. The state has some of the fastest-growing Hispanic communities, including in Redding and Allentown, where more than half the population is Hispanic.
Pennsylvania’s Hispanic voting population has doubled since 2000, from 206,000 to 620,000 in 2023, according to Census Bureau data. More than half of them are voting Puerto Ricans.