Election 2024 updates: Trump MSG rally marked by racist tropes and vitriol

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump headlined a hometown rally at New York City's Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.

But what Queens-born Trump expected to be a star-studded headliner event ?like that of world-class performers ? with the likes of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Hulk Hogan and UFC CEO Dana White soon unfurled.

Warm up acts, including comedian Tony Hinchliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage.

When he finally took the stage, Trump spoke for an hour and twenty minutes where he repeated his plans to launch the "largest deportation program in American history."

When referring to Democrats, he cast the party as being run by powerful people he called "the enemy from within." And he called his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris a "very low IQ individual."

Keep up with the USA TODAY Network's live coverage from the campaign trail.

More: Trump heads to Madison Square Garden for a closing campaign act

Trump campaign disavows racist remarks by comedian at rally

Donald Trump’s campaign said Sunday that the former president doesn’t share the views of a comedian at his Madison Square Garden rally who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, opened the Trump rally with a series of jokes that also included saying Latinos have too many babies and he talked about “carving watermelons with a Black friend.

- Zac Anderson

Republicans slam racist comments at Trump rally

Remarks by a comedian at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” drew a swift rebuke from some Republicans.

U.S. Rep. Maria Elivra Salazar, R-Fla., wrote on X she is “disgusted” by the “racist comment” by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony,

“This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values,” Salazar said, adding that more than 48,000 residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, served in the Vietnam War and more than 345 earned Purple Hearts.

“This bravery deserves respect,” Salazar wrote. “Educate yourself!”

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, another Florida Republican, wrote on X that Hinchcliffe’s joke “bombed for a reason. It’s not funny and it’s not true.”

Other Republicans critical of Hinchcliffe included Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla,, who said on Twitter: “This is not a joke. It’s completely classless & in poor taste.”

Gimenez added that Hinchcliffe “clearly isn’t funny & definitely doesn’t reflect my values or those of the Republican Party.”

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., said on X that he is “Proud to be Puerto Rican” and praised the island’s beauty and culture.

“The only thing that’s ‘garbage’ was a bad comedy set,” D’Esposito added.

- Zac Anderson

What's Trump schedule for the week?

After his big night in New York, Trump is kicking off his last full week of campaigning before Election Day with a series of swing state events.

He starts with a rally Monday in Atlanta, Georgia, and continues to Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday and Green Bay, Wisconsin on Wednesday, where he’ll be joined by former Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre. Trump then heads to Henderson, Nevada, on Thursday before returning east for events on Friday in Milwaukee and on Saturday in Salem, Virginia.

- Zac Anderson and Darren Samuelsohn

Trump sticks to mass deportation, racism and vitriol in closing remarks

Taking the stage for a raucous, celebrity-infused rally at one of the nation’s iconic arenas as Election Day closes in, Republican president nominee Donald Trump told a crowd at Madison Square Garden on Sunday that he will usher in "America’s new golden age.”

In a White House campaign that remains razor close, Trump opened his portion of the rally by sticking to his main talking points on a populist economy and mass deportation. He called for new tax cuts for people caring for loved ones at home and sparked chants of "send them back" after invoking his plan to deport undocumented immigrants.

“The United States is now an occupied country but it will soon be a occupied country no longer… nine days from now will be liberation day in America," Trump said.

Trump didn’t shy away from some of his more racist remarks, though, doubling down on his comments that Democrats and his opponents are the “enemy from within.”

“When I say the enemy from within the other side goes crazy… they’ve done very bad things to this country, they are indeed the enemy from within," Trump said.

The former president also continued to attack his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris in aggressive and deeply personal terms, saying she "can't put two sentences together" after a long line of speakers questioned her intelligence. He tied his attacks into a new campaign motto, that "Trump will fix it."

“On issue after issue Kamala broke it but I will fix it," he said.

- Zac Anderson

Trump-supporting comedian opens rally by calling Puerto Rico a 'floating pile of garbage'

A comedian at Trump’s Madison Square Garden signature closing rally joked about Latinos having too many babies, called Puerto Rico a floating garbage island and referred to “carving watermelons” with a Black friend.

“There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now,” Tony Hinchliffe, who goes by the stage name Kill Tony, said on Sunday. He paused before delivering his punch line. “I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

The opening-act comments for Trump’s speech by comedian Hinchcliffe drew laughs and some groans from the crowd. Hinchcliffe, whose comedy show “Kill Tony” has nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers, said of Latinos, “They love making babies, too, just know that. They do, they do." He also pointed to a Black man in the audience and said, “That's one of my buddies. He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together.”

In a post on X, Hinchcliffe said later on Sunday that he loved Puerto Rico and had vacationed there. He also marveled that his comments had already drawn a rebuke from Walz. "These people have no sense of humor," he wrote.

- Josh Meyer

Melania Trump speaks in rare rally appearance

Former President Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, has been absent for most of his third bid for the White House, but on Sunday she made a rare speaking appearance at his Madison Square Garden rally.

Taking the stage to Guns N’ Roses “Paradise City," the former first lady said “New York City and America needs their magic back.”

The crowd went wild for Melanie Trump, who then introduced her husband.

- Zac Anderson

JD Vance pitches a new slogan for Kamala Harris

Vice presidential candidates are supposed to be attack dogs, and JD Vance relished that role Sunday, slamming Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.

Trump’s running mate pointed to a comment Harris made recently when she was asked on “The View” what she would have done differently than President Joe Biden.

Harris’ response “nothing comes to mind” should be her slogan, Vance said.

“Kamala Harris: Nothing Comes to Mind,” he joked.

Vance also said he feels badly for Walz because he has to defend Harris’ record. The crowd then started chanting “Tampon Tim.”

- Zac Anderson

Tucker Carlson: What a long, strange trip it’s been

Conservative media celebrity Tucker Carlson tied some disparate cultural threads together by name checking the Grateful Dead, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump in kicking off his remarks at the Republican presidential nominee's rally at Madison Square Garden.

Carlson noted he saw the Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden in 1987 before marveling that he was now on the stage “following Bobby Kennedy Jr. at a Trump rally.””

Comparing Trump’s return to New York City to man being kicked out of a bar and returning anyway, Carlson said Trump was “back in the city that produced him with no embarrassment at all.”

Carlson then seemed to mock Harris’ ethnic background, saying she would be the first “Samoan, Malaysian, low IQ” president. Harris is of Indian and Jamaican descent.

-Zac Anderson

How many people are at Trump rally? The number is hard to know

Madison Square Garden can hold more than 20,000 people for boxing events and typically welcomes more than 19,000 for NHL and NBA games. But it's not clear if all of the seats will be available for Trump's Sunday rally, due to security and other factors.

Tickets to Trump rallies are also commonly first-come, first-served with no assigned seats. So, the number of tickets issued doesn’t always equal the number of attendees.

More: How many people are at Trump rally? The number is hard to know

? Shane Brennan

Ramaswamy: 'New York is a swing state'

Trump’s rally in New York has some prominent people questioning his election strategy nine days before the election.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy told the crowd at Madison Square Garden rally that he heard from a billionaire friend on Sunday morning questioning why the Republican presidential nominee is holding an event in deep blue New York so close to Election Day on Nov. 5.

The friend, according to Ramaswamy, asked: “Why in the hell are you guys wasting your time in New York City instead of going to a swing state?”

Ramaswamy responded: “New York is a swing state.”

Trump lost New York by large margins in 2020 and 2016, but the crowd loved Ramaswamy's remarks. He ran against Trump in the 2024 GOP primaries but got huge applause from the moment he took the stage.

- Zac Anderson

Where is Kamala Harris appearing on Sunday?

As Trump holds a major rally at Madison Square Garden, Kamala Harris has a packed day campaigning in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

The Democratic presidential nominee kicked off her schedule with a Sunday morning church service at The Church of Christian Compassion in West Philadelphia.

Just blocks from the church, Harris also made a stop at a barbershop, Philly Cuts, in an attempt to appeal to Black men. Harris has seen a drop of support from Black and Latino men, according to multiple polls. She also sat down for an interview with Walter Perez for 6abc Action News at the shop. After the stop at the barbershop, Harris dropped into a local bookstore.

Harris also made her way across Philadelphia and spoke at a Puerto Rican restaurant called Freddy and Tony’s Restaurant. Her campaign released an “opportunity economy” agenda for Puerto Rico on Sunday that would focus on creating economic opportunities on the island and improving the electrical grid.

- Rebecca Morin and Joey Garrison

How to watch Trump's Madison Square rally

No, you don't need a cable subscription to watch Donald Trump's New York City rally. It will be livestreamed online.

? Marina Pitofsky

Trump backers turn NYC into a sea of red MAGA hats for 'historic' rally

They camped out overnight, packed the subways, turned the skyscraper-enclosed streets into a river of red MAGA hats and paraded cars and trucks laden with Donald Trump flags through the heart of the Big Apple.

The Republican presidential nominee was in town and his "Make America Great Again" supporters were out in force to show that even in the bluest part of one of the bluest states they are a movement to be reckoned with.

Trump’s image blazed on the jumbotrons outside Madison Square Garden with the words “Dream Big Again!” and his supporters were dreaming about Trump back in the White House, propelled over the finish line by the rally Sunday at one of the world’s iconic arenas.

“Good, bad, whatever, it’s historical and something to witness,” said Mike Zarro, a 28-year-old tow truck driver from Long Island who told USA TODAY he'd set out for Manhattan in the pre-dawn hours to make it to the Trump rally.

North Carolina retiree Bill Robinson, 65, said he has been to 53 Trump rallies since 2015. As for Trump at Madison Square Garden, Robinson said that it would be “the granddaddy of them all" while camping out Saturday afternoon near the arena and the first person in a line that would stretch across a whole city block by the next morning.

“Fifty percent of the rally is Trump, the rest of it is hanging around like-minded people,” said Robinson.

Near Robinson, Pennsylvania truck driver Richard Everit, 59, waved a Trump flag and exchanged fist bumps with passersby who offered words of support for the former president.

Everit said he never voted until he cast his first ballot for Trump in 2020. The incumbent Republican president at the time “opened my eyes.” Now, he said he wears Trump gear wherever he goes.

- Zac Anderson

Trump friend announces bid for NYC mayor at MSG rally

Trump childhood friend David Rem used the former president’s rally at Madison Square Garden Sunday to announce a bid for mayor of New York City.

“We need to make New York red,” Rem said.

Rem also vouched for Trump as a religious man, saying he “knows that Jesus Christ is king” and said the former president’s critics are doing everything to stop him.

“They don’t want to face Donald Trump at the ballot box so they’ll do anything they can, imprison him, kill him,” Rem said.

-Zac Anderson

The Harris-Trump race is as tight as possible

How close is this race?

As close as it can get in the popular vote without actually being tied, according to one measure.

The Real Clear Politics average of recent national polls gives Trump a lead over Harris of 48.5% to 48.4% - i.e., a 0.1 percentage difference. That's well within the margin of error for each of the surveys included in the average.

Polls in the seven battleground states that will decide the Electoral College - and the presidency - are almost all within the margin of error.

?David Jackson

Trump rally at Madison Square Garden features Elon Musk, Dana White: See full speaker list

Here's the speaker lineup for the Sunday, Oct. 27, rally in support of Donald Trump, according to the Trump campaign:

• JD Vance, Republican vice presidential nominee

• Speaker Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives

• Rep. Elise Stefanik

• Rep. Byron Donalds

• Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former Democrat and four-term congresswoman

• Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Associate Attorney General of the United States and Mayor of New York City

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former presidential candidate

• Lara Trump, co-chair, the Republican National Committee

• Eric Trump, son of former President Trump

• Donald Trump Jr., son of former President Donald Trump

• Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla

• Dan Scavino, senior advisor to former President Trump

• Stephen Miller, senior advisor to former President Trump

• Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

• Tucker Carlson, host of The Tucker Carlson Show

• Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute

• Steve Witkoff, founder of the Witkoff Group

• Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of the Trump 2024 Transition Team

• Grant Cardone, CEO, 10X

• Sergio Gor, Right for America PAC

• Michael Harris Jr., co-founder of Death Row Records

• Tiffany Justice, founder of Moms for Liberty

• Lee Greenwood, singer

• Christopher Macchio, opera singer

• Mary Millben, singer

• Sid Rosenberg, New York radio personality

• Tony Hinchcliffe, comedian and host of "Kill Tony" podcast

• Scott Lobaido, live painter

• David Rem, childhood friend of former President Trump

• Hulk Hogan

?Mike Snider

More: Trump-aligned group is already planning lawsuits over election results

Trump's Madison Square Garden rally is a closing campaign act

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Sunday is set to use one of the biggest stages in the nation's biggest city to take one of his final swings in the razor-tight 2024 race for the White House.

It's a classic Trump move to throw a splashy campaign event at a venue that bills itself as "The World's Most Famous Arena" – Madison Square Garden. Also in classic Trump fashion, it is a strategic decision that's perplexing to seasoned political types who question why the former president would focus his limited time and resources as the clock ticks toward Election Day on Nov. 5 to travel to a seemingly safe Democratic state like New York.

Trump and his aides say there are good reasons to do this rally on the presidential campaign's penultimate weekend. His command of the media and ability to attract eyeballs has always been pivotal to his success - and a hallmark of his fame starting out in New York in the 1980s.

That's an essential ingredient he's looking to keep on capturing in his race against Kamala Harris, who brought new energy and her own wave of positive press since catapulting to the top of the Democratic ticket this summer upon President Joe Biden's decision to only serve one term.

?Zac Anderson and David Jackson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2024 updates: Trump rally at Madison Square Garden