By james art A reference to Nazism? Of course it was and of course it wasn’t.
Like everything else in this election, the narrative cuts both ways.
Madison Square Garden is New York’s iconic performance venue. It’s a stage for the big event and lends cachet to a candidate winding down his campaign, no doubt.
Appearing at MSG, Donald Trump puts himself on the same Wikipedia page as the New York Knicks, several hundred rock concerts and two of the three Ali-Frazier fights.
Donald Trump delivered his closing message to voters at Madison Square Garden in New York
Melania Trump introduces her husband. Photo: Reuters
Throw “Nazi” into the search and you’ll find this too – the largest Nazi rally in US history took place in the Garden in 1939, just months before the outbreak of World War II.
Something called the German-American Bund hired him for an event, decorating the stage with swastikas for a rally billed as “pro-Americanism.”
For a place that celebrates its history, the shame cannot be hidden. No hiding, as it could not have gone unnoticed by Trump’s campaign organizers, a team managing a candidate once called “America’s Hitler” by his own vice president and a “fascist to the core” by his former senior military adviser.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Tap here
Just last week, the description was echoed by his former chief of staff, John Kelly, who told the New York Times that Trump had said he wished his military personnel would show him the same respect that Adolf Hitler’s Nazi generals showed the German dictator during World War II. His claims were denied by Donald Trump.
The MSG booking has been attacked by Trump’s opponents, who portray him as a dangerous authoritarian who prominently displays an agenda of autocracy. For a second Trump term, they say, read The Third Reich.
Hulk Hogan was among the guests of the campaign
Indeed, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Trump of repeating the 1939 rally, calling it “more unstable, more unstable” than when she faced him in 2016.
Trump’s team called that particular claim “disgusting,” pointing out that she herself did an event at MSG and her husband, Bill, accepted the Democratic nomination there.
Read more:
Trump shows ‘obvious mental decline’ – Michelle Obama
Was there a crowd at Musk’s “town hall” just for payday?
Byron Donalds, a Republican congressman from Florida who spoke at the MSG rally, told Sky News: “It’s not even a question and you know it. It’s because opponents are stupid and lose and do anything to get higher Stop it, be better.”
It’s “nothing to see here,” is the reply, certain to die down any whiff of outrage. The Republicans’ credibility is based on the experience of dealing with a political candidate competitively positioned in the presidential race, despite the baggage of sexual assault, business fraud, criminal convictions, etc., etc. career – not now.
It’s a moot point because of the background noise and a significant number of voters who have stopped listening — significantly enough to keep him in the race.