ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) โ Urged by some allies to apologize for racist comments made by speakers at his weekend rally,ย Donald Trumpย took the opposite approach on Tuesday, saying it was an โhonor to be involvedโ in such an event and calling the scene a โlovefestโ โ the same term he has used to describe the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump gathered supporters and reporters to his Mar-a-Lago resort two days after aย massive rally at Madison Square Gardenย featured a number of crude remarks by various speakers, including a set byย comedian Tony Hinchcliffeย in which he joked that Puerto Rico was a โfloating island of garbage.โ Some of Trumpโs top Republican allies have condemned the remarks, and his campaign took the rare step of publicly distancing itself from Hinchcliffeโs joke, though not the other comments.
But given the opportunity to apologize at multiple events and in interviews Tuesday, Trump instead leaned in. Speaking at his Florida resort, he said that โthereโs never been an event so beautifulโ as his Sunday rally in his hometown of New York.
โThe love in that room. It was breathtaking,โ he said. โIt was like a lovefest, an absolute lovefest. And it was my honor to be involved.โ
On Tuesday night, he told Fox Newsโ Sean Hannity that he knows nothing about Hinchcliffe but said, โI canโt imagine itโs a big deal.โ He later agreed, though, that โprobably he shouldnโt have been there.โ
With just a week beforeย Election Day, some Trump allies have voiced alarm that the rally, which was supposed to highlight the Republican presidential nomineeโs closing message in grand New York fashion, has instead served as a distraction andย even a liability, given theย electoral importance of Puerto Ricansย who live in Pennsylvania and other key swing states.
โThis is not a time to have anyone criticize Puerto Rico or Latinos,โ former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who challenged Trump for the GOP presidential nomination and later endorsed him, said in an interview with Fox News Channel.
Trump later held a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city with a large Hispanic population, where Puerto Ricoโs shadow U.S. senator, Zoraida Buxo, joined him and defended the former presidentโs record.
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โWe need this man to be our commander in chief,โ said Buxo, who cannot vote in the Senate because Puerto Rico is not a state. โHe will make us feel safe and he will protect us.โ
Still, there was anger in Allentown. Ivet Figueroa, 61, stood outside the rally venue holding a trash can with the words โTrash Trumpโ on it.
She said of the insult and Trump:: โThe person who said it was vetted by him. So thatโs what he allowed, so he has to take responsibility for what he said. Now itโs too late for saying โsorry.โ I donโt want an apology, I want justice, and justice is on Nov. 5.โ
The fallout from the Madison Square Garden event risked highlighting votersโ concerns about Trumpโs rhetoric and penchant for controversy in the closing stretch as both campaigns are scrambling for votes. Speakers at the rally also made racist comments targeting Latinos, Black people, Jews and Palestinians, along with sexist insults directed at Trumpโs Democratic rival, Vice Presidentย Kamala Harris, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In an interview with ABC News earlier Tuesday, Trump claimed to not know Hinchcliffe but did not denounce what he said.
โI donโt know him. Someone put him up there. I donโt know who he is,โ Trump said, according to the network, insisting that he hadnโt heard Hinchcliffeโs comments. When asked what he made of them, Trump โdid not take the opportunity to denounce them, repeating that he didnโt hear the comments,โ ABC reported.
In the Hannity interview, Trump said people were trying to make the comedianโs appearance into a โbig dealโ when it โhas nothing to do with the party, has nothing to do with us.โ
Asked later in the interview whether he wished the comic wasnโt there, Trump said, โYeah, I mean I donโt know if itโs a big deal or not, but I donโt want anybody making nasty jokes or stupid jokes.โ He added, โProbably he shouldnโt have been there, yeah.โ
Later Tuesday, President Joe Biden, on a call organized by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, denounced the comicโs joke and said, โThe only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.โ He laterย tried to clarify his comment, saying he was talking about โthe hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trumpโs supporter.โ
The comments from the Madison Square Garden rally have drawn outrage from Puerto Rican leaders.
The archbishop of Puerto Rico called on Trump to disavow them, saying it wasnโt enough for the campaign to say the joke didnโt reflect Trumpโs views. The president of Puerto Ricoโs Republican Party called the โpoor attempt at comedyโ by Hinchcliffe โdisgraceful, ignorant and totally reprehensible.โ
In Pennsylvania, where Trump campaigned Tuesday night, the Latino eligible voter population has nearly tripled since 2000. More than half of those are Puerto Rican voters.
Angelo Ortega, a longtime Allentown resident and former Republican whoโs planning to vote for Harris, said he couldnโt believe what heโd heard about Trumpโs rally.
โI donโt know if my jaw dropped or I was just so irritated, angry. I didnโt know what to feel,โ said Ortega, who was born in New York but whose father came from Puerto Rico. Ortega has been campaigning for Harris and said he knows of at least one Hispanic GOP voter planning to switch from Trump to Harris as a result of Hinchcliffeโs comments.
โTheyโve had it. Theyโve had it. They were listening to (Trump), but they said they think that that was like the straw that broke the camelโs back,โ said Ortega, a member of the Make the Road PA advocacy group.
Still, some voters of Puerto Rican descent werenโt fazed. Maricelis Torres, 24, a waitress studying to be a radiologist, waited to get into the Allentown rally and said she and her family laughed at Hinchcliffeโs joke.
โIf you donโt understand humor, then thatโs what Iโm saying, people are way too soft these days,โ said Torres, whose father is from the island.
The Harris campaign has released an ad that will run online in battleground states targeting Puerto Rican voters and highlighting the comedianโs remarks.
At a roundtable outside Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon, Trump got some praise from a retired occupational therapist from Puerto Rico, Maribel Valdez. โPuerto Rico stands behind you, and Puerto Rico loves you,โ Valdez told him.
Trump thanked her and reminisced about his administrationโs efforts to help the island after storms. โI think no president has ever done more for Puerto Rico than I have,โ responded Trump, whoย delayed the releaseย of billions of dollars in assistance to repair years-old hurricane damage in Puerto Rico until shortly before the 2020 election.
