Trump's MSG Rally Was SRO

At one point, Trump was live on every TV News Channel

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump headlined a rally at New York's Madison Square Garden on Sunday that began with a series of vulgar and racist remarks by allies of the former president.

USA Today reports Trump, a New York celebrity for decades, hoped to use the event at the iconic venue known for Knicks basketball games and Billy Joel concerts to deliver his closing argument against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, even though the state last backed a Republican presidential candidate in 1984.

Trump spoke repeatedly about his plans to halt illegal immigration and deport migrants he described as "vicious and bloodthirsty criminals" if he wins the Nov. 5 election.

"On day one I will launch the largest deportation program in American history," he said. "I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered."

Trump called Harris a "very low IQ individual" and drew cheers from supporters for his tough-on-migrants rhetoric.

He vowed to ban sanctuary cities, which refuse to cooperate with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws, and to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act law to deport immigrants with criminal records.

A long list of opening speakers varied widely from former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr.

Some used racist and misogynistic language in warming up a capacity crowd, reports Reuters.

In a 90-minute speech that broadcast live on all three cable news networks, Trump previewed the prospect of Congress passing the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 in order to conduct mass deportations of illegal immigrants, his proposal of one-year imprisonment for people who burn the U.S. flag, and repeated his criticism of Democrats as the “enemy from within.”

“When I say the enemy within the other side goes crazy,” he said. “They have done very bad things, they are indeed the enemy from within.”

The Washington Examiner reports Donald Trump was introduced by his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, a surprise special guest appearing on the campaign trail for the first time this election cycle except for the convention who contended “New York City and America needs their magic back.”

Trump’s pre-speech entertainment spanned Tucker Carlson, who downplayed Harris as a “Samoan Malaysian low I.Q. former California prosecutor” to a shirt-ripping Hulk Hogan. The opening speeches included expletives and the middle finger from 10X equity fund manager Grant Cardone, a joke that Puerto Rico is an “island of garbage” from comedian Kill Tony, advice on anti-bullying from Dr. Phil McGraw, and a live painting exhibition from Scott Lobaido.

Front Page Ignores Rally

During the early stages of the rally, the comedian Tony Hinchliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, mocked Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” and also said Latinos have too many children. While Trump's campaign later sought to distance itself from the joke, it had already garnered condemnation from allies like Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott and the chairman of the Republican Party of Puerto Rico.

"This joke bombed for a reason," said Scott, a first-term senator who is in his own heated 2024 re-election race. "It's not funny and it's not true."

Two hours away at Philadelphia Youth Basketball’s Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center, Harris released her plan for Puerto Rico, a pitch to Pennsylvania‘s small but ever-increasing Latino population, as her campaign seized on the political split screen between that and Kill Tony’s joke about the U.S. island.

The Examiner reports Harris’s rally was briefly interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protester, whom she addressed during her remarks before returning to her stump speech.

“Philadelphia, we have nine days to get this done. And for the next nine days, no one is sitting on the sidelines,” she said. “There is too much on the line.”