Trump says his New York rally marked by crude and racist insults ‘was like a lovefest’

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Urged by immoderate friends to apologize for racist comments made by speakers astatine his play rally, Donald Trump took nan other attack connected Tuesday, saying it was an “honor to beryllium involved” successful specified an arena and calling nan segment a “lovefest” — nan aforesaid word he has utilized to picture nan Jan. 6 insurrection astatine nan U.S. Capitol.

Trump gathered supporters and reporters to his Mar-a-Lago edifice 2 days aft a massive rally astatine Madison Square Garden featured a number of crude remarks by various speakers, including a group by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe successful which he joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating land of garbage.” Some of Trump’s apical Republican friends person condemned nan remarks, and his run took nan uncommon measurement of publically distancing itself from Hinchcliffe’s joke, though not nan different comments.

But fixed nan opportunity to apologize, some astatine Mar-a-Lago and successful an earlier ABC interview, Trump alternatively leaned in. Speaking astatine his Florida resort, he said that “there’s ne'er been an arena truthful beautiful” arsenic his Sunday rally successful his hometown of New York.

“The emotion successful that room. It was breathtaking,” he said. “It was for illustration a lovefest, an absolute lovefest. And it was my grant to beryllium involved.”

With conscionable a week earlier Election Day, immoderate Trump friends person voiced siren that nan rally, which was expected to item nan Republican statesmanlike nominee’s closing connection successful expansive New York fashion, has alternatively served arsenic a distraction and even a liability, fixed nan electoral value of Puerto Ricans who unrecorded successful Pennsylvania and different cardinal plaything states.

Trump was group to clasp a rally later Tuesday successful Allentown, Pennsylvania, a metropolis pinch a ample Hispanic population, wherever Puerto Rico’s protector U.S. senator, Zoraida Buxo, will subordinate him, according to a run charismatic who said connected information of anonymity up of a general announcement.

Buxo, who does not person a ballot successful nan Senate because Puerto Rico is not a state, voiced her support for Trump successful a station connected nan societal media tract X. She said Trump is nan “strong leader” that Puerto Rico needs.

The fallout from nan Madison Square Garden arena risked highlighting voters’ concerns astir Trump’s rhetoric and penchant for contention successful nan closing agelong arsenic some campaigns are scrambling for votes. Speakers astatine nan rally besides made racist comments targeting Latinos, Black people, Jews and Palestinians, on pinch sexist insults directed astatine Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and erstwhile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

On Tuesday, Trump tried to move past nan contention and pivot backmost to Harris, lashing his rival’s grounds connected nan separator and inflation, saying that, “on rumor aft issue, she collapsed it” and “I’m going to hole it and hole it very fast.”

Trump, who took nary questions astatine nan event, accused Harris of moving a “campaign of absolute hate,” and claimed she keeps “talking astir Hitler and Nazi, because her record’s horrible.”

Trump’s longest-serving main of unit said successful caller interviews pinch The New York Times and The Atlantic that nan erstwhile president praised Adolf Hitler while successful agency and suggested that nan Nazi leader “did immoderate bully things.”

In an question and reply pinch ABC News earlier Tuesday, Trump tried to region himself from Hinchcliffe but did not denounce what he said.

“I don’t cognize him. Someone put him up there. I don’t cognize who he is,” Trump said, according to nan network, insisting that he hadn’t heard Hinchcliffe’s comments. When asked what he made of them, Trump “did not return nan opportunity to denounce them, repeating that he didn’t perceive nan comments,” ABC reported.

The comments person drawn outrage from Puerto Rican leaders.

The archbishop of Puerto Rico called connected Trump to disavow them, saying it wasn’t capable for nan run to opportunity nan joke didn’t bespeak Trump’s views. The president of Puerto Rico’s Republican Party called nan “poor effort astatine comedy” by Hinchcliffe “disgraceful, ignorant and wholly reprehensible.”

In Pennsylvania, wherever Trump was to run later Tuesday, nan Latino eligible elector organization has astir tripled since 2000. More than half of those are Puerto Rican eligible voters.

Angelo Ortega, a longtime Allentown resident and erstwhile Republican who’s readying to ballot for Harris this time, said he couldn’t judge what he’d heard astir Trump’s rally.

“I don’t cognize if my jaw dropped aliases I was conscionable truthful irritated, angry. I didn’t cognize what to feel,” said Ortega, who was calved successful New York but whose begetter came from Puerto Rico. Ortega has been campaigning for Harris and said he knows of astatine slightest 1 Hispanic GOP elector readying to move from Trump to Harris arsenic a consequence of Hinchcliffe’s comments.

“They’ve had it. They’ve had it. They were listening to (Trump), but they said they deliberation that that was for illustration nan straw that collapsed nan camel’s back,” said Ortega, a personnel of nan Make nan Road PA defense group.

Still, immoderate Republican Puerto Ricans weren’t fazed. Lydia Maldonado, who attended Trump’s arena successful Florida connected Tuesday, said successful Spanish that it was important to statement that nan erstwhile president was not nan 1 who made nan remark astir Puerto Rico.

“He is simply a comedian. He tries to beryllium funny and says a batch of nonsense. The man is dumb. He has nary hint astir Puerto Rico and doesn’t cognize our culture. He screwed up. We person to forgive and fto it go,” said Maldonado, who is Puerto Rican.

The Harris run has released an advertisement that will tally online successful battleground states targeting Puerto Rican voters and highlighting nan comedian’s remarks.

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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin successful New York, Dánica Coto successful San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nicholas Riccardi successful Denver and Michael Rubinkam successful Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.