Madison Square Garden in New York City is generally known as a venue for entertainment and the arts, but it has been known to hold an occasional political event. In 1939, for example, Nazis held a rally at MSG, billed at the time as a “Mass Demonstration for True Americanism.”
After Donald Trump’s campaign announced plans to hold a 2024 rally at the same venue, a variety of Democrats, including a New York state senator and the leader of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, drew parallels between his scheduled event and the 1939 gathering. Indeed, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week warned that Trump would effectively be “re-enacting” the Nazis’ event in the same arena, adding, “I don’t think we can ignore it.”
The Republican’s Madison Square Garden event was ugly. It was offensive. It was vulgar. It was hateful.
The former Republican president apparently learned of his former rival’s comments and, at an event on Friday, he pushed back. “She said it’s just like the 1930s,” Trump said, referring to Clinton. “No, it’s not.”
Two days later, Trump and a parade of right-wing allies appeared at Madison Square Garden, at which point his denials were exposed as ridiculous. NBC News reported:
… Trump’s remarks in his hometown, New York City, which went for more than an hour, were overshadowed by comments made by warm-up speakers in the roughly five hours before his prime-time address. They included a comedian’s racist jokes about Latinos and Black Americans and were condemned by multiple Republican members of Congress, as well as speakers who used increasingly inflammatory language to describe Vice President Kamala Harris.
To be sure, the Republican candidate’s remarks were not exactly anodyne. Trump, among other things, condemned Americans he disagrees with as “the enemy from within,” while describing the media as “the enemy of the people” — a phrase that echoed, among others, Joseph Stalin.
Trump also lied uncontrollably, called the United States an “occupied” country, peddled familiar grievances and conspiracy theories, and presented a closing argument to the electorate that reflected his radicalism.
Trump, whose entire political persona is rooted in racism, is running on an authoritarian platform.
But before the GOP nominee even reached the stage, the audience was presented with an avalanche of racist and misogynistic comments. One speaker echoed a rallygoer who called Harris “the devil” and “the Antichrist.” Right-wing media personality Tucker Carlson joked that the Democratic vice president, who is of Black and Indian descent, would be “the first Samoan Malaysian low IQ, former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.”
A man named Tony Hinchcliffe, who describes himself as a comedian, told attendees that Latinos “love making babies” because “there’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country.”
He also targeted Puerto Rico, describing it as “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now.” Hinchcliffe went on to reference a Black friend he “carved watermelons” with.
A handful of congressional Republicans denounced the attempts at humor, though they remained focused on Hinchcliffe, not the other speakers.
When Harris scheduled an event in Houston, it wasn’t because she seriously expected to compete for Texas’ 40 electoral votes. Rather, the Democratic campaign hoped to make a broader point to the nation about the real-life consequences of the Republican Party’s radical agenda.
Similarly, when Trump scheduled an event at Madison Square Garden two days later, it wasn’t because his campaign saw the Empire State’s electoral votes as up for grabs. It was because the GOP nominee also hoped to deliver a message to the American electorate far outside the five boroughs. To a very real degree, Trump and his unhinged pals succeeded — though not in the way they intended. The Republican’s Madison Square Garden event was ugly. It was offensive. It was vulgar. It was hateful. It drew obvious parallels to the 1939 event. The New York Times described the gathering as “a release of rage” and “a vivid and at times racist display of the dark energy animating the MAGA movement.” It was not, however, surprising. Trump, whose entire political persona is rooted in racism, is running on an authoritarian platform. With 10 days remaining before Election Day, he held a right-wing rally filled with enraged and bigoted messages? Well, yes. Of course he did. This is the Republican Party and its nominee for the nation’s highest office in 2024. A Politico report described the event as “a political fiasco“ for the Trump campaign at a critical time. We’ll learn soon enough whether it pays a price.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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