Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, U.S. on November 1, 2024.
brian snyder reuter
The final weeks of former President Donald Trump’s campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris were marred by a series of controversial statements and unforced errors, amid a barrage of Democratic attacks and legal backlash, leading to a final argument to voters. may be silenced.
Throughout the week, Trump’s campaign aired thousands of ads highlighting his platform, including universal tariffs and deeper policy. tax reduction and complete deportation of immigrants. But it was the comedian’s insults about Puerto Rico, violent remarks about President Trump’s political opponents, and comments about women that drew the most attention.
Last Sunday, the Republican presidential candidate kicked off his final week of campaigning with a lively rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The event was advertised as economic marketing to New Yorkers, but its message was drowned out by crude and sometimes outright racist remarks by some of the introductory speakers.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s opening set drew the most backlash after he called Puerto Rico a “garbage island in the middle of the ocean.”
Hinchcliffe’s comments sparked a wave of criticism from elected officials and voters, as well as Puerto Rican celebrities like musician Bad Bunny.
“The economy is not very good. I think people are pretty frustrated,” Mayor Matt Turk of Allentown, Pennsylvania, told NBC News on Tuesday. “Some people have heard the word rage.”
Pennsylvania is a key battleground state with 19 electoral votes, but it has a large Puerto Rican population, and Hinchcliffe’s offensive comments have increased the political damage.
Trump campaign officials spent the hours and days that followed the MSG rally cleaning up and trying to distance the candidate from the controversy.
Daniel Alvarez, a senior Trump campaign adviser, said last Sunday night that “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or his campaign.”
Democrats and the Harris campaign have weighed in on this debate.
“We saw what happened at Madison Square Garden in New York City as another attempt to divide us,” said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate. spoke Thursday in Pennsylvania, where he was on a local campaign trail. “The disrespect towards my fellow Puerto Ricans was not only unnecessary, but incredibly hurtful.”
Trump’s closing message was overshadowed by his verbal attack on former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a senior Republican who has become a key surrogate for Harris’ campaign.
“She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her up there with a rifle and shoot her with nine barrels,” Trump said Thursday at an event in Arizona with conservative media personality Tucker Carlson. he said. “Okay, let’s see how she feels about it. We’ll know when a gun is pointed at her face.”
Arizona’s attorney general announced Friday that he is investigating whether President Trump’s violent comments amount to death threats and violations of state law.
The Harris campaign contrasted Trump’s comments to support its bipartisan case for the Democratic presidential nominee.
“You have Donald Trump talking about sending prominent Republicans to the firing squad, and you have Vice President Harris talking about sending one to his cabinet,” said Ian Sams, a senior adviser to the Harris campaign. said on MSNBC on Friday.
Trump’s careless remarks about Cheney once again forced him and his campaign to spend the remaining days of the election doing damage control.
“All I’m saying is she was a crazy war hawk,” Trump said Saturday on “Fox & Friends.” He added: “I said, ‘Put the gun in her hand and let her go outside and face the enemy with the gun.'”
President Trump calls his rambling rhetorical style, which derails his central policy message, “weaving.”
“Look, I’m weaving,” he told a Saturday rally in Virginia. “No one can weave like Trump.”
Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson warned of a disconnect as polls revealed tight races in key battleground states in the presidential election over the final weekend.
“His message on the air is, ‘If you want to get the economy back on track, if you don’t want the world to go up in flames, vote for me.’ That’s a good message,” Anderson told CNN on Sunday. He spoke on “State of the Union.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not what he says sometimes on the stumps,” she said. “And if he loses, that disconnect will be part of the reason.”
On Wednesday, President Trump said at a rally in Wisconsin that he would “protect” American women “whether they like it or not.” The comments gave the Harris campaign new ammunition to argue that Trump and the Republican Party are trying to impose their beliefs about women’s lives over the objections of women themselves.
This argument is at the heart of Democratic opposition to abortion restrictions imposed in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision. Opinion polls show that Harris has overwhelming support among women on this issue.
Former Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said on CNN on Sunday that he is watching closely to see how the race concludes, and that Harris is “doing well.”
“She’s sending a message. She’s been very disciplined. Trump hasn’t been. I think that makes sense.”
