"Literally, there is an island of garbage floating in the middle of the ocean right now. I think they call it Puerto Rico." It was twenty-five minutes to four on a sunny and cold autumn afternoon, the upper stands of the New York Madison Square Garden were still not filled, and thousands of people were patiently queuing to attend Donald Trump's 'megarally' when comedian Kill Tony began to warm up the audience. His statement was met with boos. People did not find it funny.
Better received was the one he had delivered a minute earlier. "Latinos love making babies. They don't pull out. They go all the way. Just like what they do with our country," said Kill Tony, whose real name is Tony Hinchcliffe. The tone and manner of Trump's rally in New York were already set.
What followed were about seven hours of speeches that truly turned into the equivalent of a second Republican Convention. The party's top brass, led by the Speaker of the House and leader of the Republican evangelical faction, seamlessly mingled with showbiz stars, led by 'Hulk' Hogan. At the Convention, one of the most politically sophisticated moments of the 21st century occurred when, caught up in excitement, he tore off his shirt while introducing Donald Trump. This time, the most excited was Alina Habba, Trump's lawyer in the sexual assault case against him by journalist E. Jean Carroll, which resulted in a, contested, multimillion-dollar judgment against the former president. Habba, on stage, was so excited that she started dancing.
Dr. Phil, a long-standing television doctor, also took the stage to support Trump. As did his two sons, Don 'junior' and Eric, accompanied by their respective wives - Lara, whom Trump appointed as president of the National Republican Committee, and Kimberly - and of course, businessman Elon Musk and television commentator and defender of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tucker Carlson.
Ivanka Trump was absent, the former president's eldest daughter. But Melania, his wife, who had only participated in one campaign event so far, precisely at the Convention, was present. Rumored to have a somewhat frosty relationship with her husband, especially after his infidelities this year were legally settled in a court a few kilometers from yesterday's rally venue.
The event was clearly designed as a 'redux' Convention, amidst a growing Republican euphoria over what they see as a likely victory for their candidate - and possibly also a majority in both chambers of the legislature - next Tuesday. The message was very harsh. Clearly, Trump did not mind drawing poisoned parallels, as Hillary Clinton did on Saturday, between this rally and the one held by the neo-Nazis at Madison Square Garden in 1939, when they also packed the venue. With the American political class embroiled in a dispute over whether Trump can be labeled "fascist," especially after expressing admiration for Adolf Hitler's generals and lamenting not having any under his command in the White House, any other politician would have avoided the danger of drawing a parallel. But Trump is different. And that's how he got to where he is.
The speakers had very short times, and music played between them. The Madison Square Garden, with a capacity for about 20,000 people, was packed to the rafters. Several thousand people had to go home due to lack of space. Even in a city where he is set to lose the elections by a landslide, Donald Trump attracts such loyal followers that some had already started queuing at midnight, exactly fourteen hours before the event began. There were rumors of buses chartered by Trump to transport his supporters, something he already did, with catastrophic disorganization, at his recent rally in Coachella, California, but this journalist only saw native New Yorkers, many from the middle and upper-middle class, with a strong presence of young people and minorities, especially Asians and Hispanics.
Killer Tony set the tone of the rally. Xenophobia was one of the keys, not surprising in a campaign that has staked everything on attacking immigrants, and is seeing that strategy work. According to a poll published by the political website Axios, 30% of Americans agree with Trump that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country." Recently, the former president reiterated the theme by stating that immigration "is lowering the country's IQ." The issue remains for Republican politicians in Florida, including the staunchly pro-Trump Rock Scott, facing a tough Senate reelection, who did not take kindly to anyone referring to the island of Puerto Rico, from which some of their voters come, as "garbage."