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3 weeks ago
Donald Trump’s infamous Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday ignited a firestorm of criticism and has been repeatedly denounced as racist, most notably due to the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s reference to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” .
But the bigoted statements from the rally did not stop there. Here is a list of the people and groups who were attacked at Trump’s campaign rally by speakers who spewed hateful vitriol throughout the night.
1. Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio
Hinchcliffe repeated false claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. “You know, you used to be able to tell people to Google stuff. My mom’s a boomer in the state of Ohio, and there’s no convincing her of anything,” he said. Hinchcliffe continued: “She’s eating the cats, she’s eating the dogs. They’re eating the pets up there.” Disinformation about Haitian immigrants has led to threats and harassment against community members. Schools in Springfield faced more than 30 bomb threats after Trump and other Republicans continued to repeat false claims.
2. Black Americans
In a bit involving an audience member whom Hinchcliffe identified as Black, Hinchcliffe said that the man was “one of [his] buddies” with whom he had attended a Halloween party at which they “carved watermelon together”. The association of Black people with watermelon is a longstanding anti-Black trope dating back to the 19th century.
3. Jewish and Palestinian people
“When it comes to Israel and Palestine, we’re all thinking the same thing. Settle your stuff already. Best out of three,” Hinchcliffe said about Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. “The Palestinians are gonna throw rock every time,” he continued, alluding to Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers during demonstrations. Hinchcliffe ended the joke with an antisemitic trope about Jewish people and money, saying: “Jews have a hard time throwing that paper.”
4. Vice-President Kamala Harris
During his appearance, Tucker Carlson, the Trump loyalist and former Fox News host, sarcastically referred to Harris, who is Black and Indian, as a “Samoan-Malaysian” with a “low IQ”, joining other Republicans who have purposely misidentified Harris’s background throughout the campaign cycle. Carson’s claims about Harris’s intellectual capacity have also been parroted by Trump, and have no basis.
5. Transgender people
Carlson went on to attack trans people, claiming that the ability to transition genders was a “lie” perpetuated by Democrats. “They force us to lie about everything at gunpoint,” he said. “And not just the obvious lies that men can become women or Vladimir Putin blew up the Nord Stream pipeline.” It was another example of harmful transphobic rhetoric from Republicans, who have spent millions on anti-trans television ads throughout the election cycle.
6. Immigrants at large
Stephen Miller, a white nationalist and one of Trump’s former top advisers, said that “America is for Americans and Americans only”, which many have compared to remarks made at a 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, when a speaker promised to “restore America to the true Americans”. Miller continued: “Think about how corrupt and hateful and evil a system is that allows gangs to come into this country and rape and murder little girls,” repeating false claims about the US immigration system. “Who’s going to stand up for our daughters? Who’s going to stand up for the girls of America, the women of America, the families of America? Who’s going to stand up and say, the cartels are gone, the criminal migrants are gone, the gangs are gone.” Research has shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the US.
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