Takeaways: Donald Trump bashes Kamala Harris, avoids talk of racism and Jan. 6
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump practiced the politics of avoidance Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
During an 80-minute rally in Allentown, Trump did not discuss allegations of racism stemming from his Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden, but did praise Latino and Puerto Rican voters.
Nor did he discuss at length Vice President Kamala Harris' competing speech accusing him of being a threat to democracy and abetting the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
Instead, he maintained his standard attacks on Harris and urged supporters to get out and vote. "We're going to win the whole deal," Trump said.
Trump and allies also knocked Joe Biden after he sparked Republican backlash by appearing to swipe at Trump's supporters. The president later said he was talking about the offensive jokes at the former president's weekend rally.
Here's are USA TODAY's top takeaways from Trump's Tuesday campaign stops:
Trump: Puerto Ricans and Latinos like me
While not mentioning a comedian's insults about Puerto Rico at his Madison Square Garden event, Trump did raise the Latino community and brought some prominent Latinos to the stage in Allentown to testify on his support of the island.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Zoraida Buxo – the "shadow senator" who represents Puerto Rico in Congress, but does not have a vote – praised Trump to the crowd.
"I am so proud that we are getting support from Latinos like never before ... nobody loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rican community more than I do," Trump said. "I’ve done more for Puerto Rico than any president."
The Trump administration faced sharp criticism for his response to Hurricane Maria in 2017, a storm that killed nearly 3,000 people, destroyed communities, and forced some residents to flee.
An inspector general’s report found that tensions within the Republican administration led to delays in disbursement of congressionally approved funds.
'Never heard of him'
In an interview taped Tuesday, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he does not know the comedian who made the insulting jokes about Puerto Rico.
In a warm-up speech at Sunday's rally in New York, comic Tony Hinchcliffe said: "I don't know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico."
Hinchcliffe and others also made crude jokes about Latino people, Black people and women.
Asked about the Hinchcliffe during his interview with Hannity, Trump said he had "never heard of him."
"Somebody said there was a comedian that joked about Puerto Rico or something, and I have no idea who he was, never saw him, never heard of him, and don't want to hear of him."
Hannity also asked Trump if he wished the comedian "wasn't there." Trump responded that he wasn't sure if it was a "big deal of not," but he added "I don't want anyone making nasty jokes or stupid jokes. Probably, he shouldn't have been there."
Latinos are important in Pennsylvania - and Pennsylvania is essential to Trump
As Latino leaders denounced Trump over the "garbage" remarks and other rally insults, the Republican candidate could not have picked a more sensitive city for the rally: Allentown, which has a heavily Latino population.
Republican consultant Mike Madrid said there are 450,000 Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania – and around 33,500 in Allentown alone. Those numbers are big enough to make the difference in Pennsylvania, a state both the Trump and Harris campaigns probably need to carry if they are to win the election.
"The racial slurs at Trump's rally in Madison Square Garden could cost him the election," said Madrid, author of "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy."
'Garbage time'
After being called to the stage in Allentown, Rubio seized on comments from Joe Biden in which he appeared to swipe at Trump's supporters as "garbage," drawing boos from the crowd.
Trump joined in, calling the Biden comments "terrible." He likened them to Hillary Clinton's comments calling some of Trump's supporters "deplorables" in 2016.
Biden said he was only referring to the offending comedian. The White House also released a transcript Tuesday night attempting to clarify that the president was referring to Hinchcliffe's act.
"His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable," the president said on X. "That's all I meant to say. The comments at that rally don't reflect who we are as a nation."
No talk of Jan. 6
Trump made plenty of jabs at Harris Tuesday night, but he made no direct reference to her competing speech to an estimated crowd of 75,000 on The Ellipse. It's the same place Trump delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, before a group of his supporters stormed the Capitol building in an effort to block the certification of the 2020 election.
“He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol," Harris said. She added in her remarks that Trump if elected president has signaled he plans to pardon many of the people convicted of January 6 crimes.
In Pennsylvania, Trump did not discuss his actions on Jan. 6, but did denounce Harris allies for describing him as a Nazi and fascist.
"Desperation," Trump said, also blaming what he and his allies have often joked is "Trump Derangement Syndrome."
Trump talks about crowd sizes, exaggerates polls
Trump didn't just criticize Harris' remarks on Tuesday. He also without evidence accused the Harris campaign of busing crowds into Washington for her Tuesday speech.
He also scorned Harris' campaign celebrities, such as Beyoncé, who joined the vice president for a rally in Texas last week.
"She didn’t sing," Trump joked.
As Harris spoke to an estimated crowd of 75,000 on The Ellipse in Washington, Trump spoke in an area with a capacity of 10,000 for concerts – and there were a few chunks of empty seats as the evening wore on.
The former president also exaggerated 2024 election polls during the Pennsylvania rally, claiming big leads in the commonwealth and other decisive states like Michigan.
In fact, the polls show pretty much dead heats in all seven battleground states.
Never mind that, Trump tells supporters: "We're going to defeat Kamala Harris and the media."
Still, Trump has often said he will only talk about good polls and ignore bad ones. He has also questioned the validity of polls, telling podcaster Joe Rogan during an interview last week: “I don't know of one person in my whole life that ever got called by a pollster.”
More: Can you trust 2024 election polls? Here's how to cut through the noise.
Trump lays groundwork for cheating allegations
Trump during the rally also made false claims about Democrats perpetrating election fraud in the 2024 race for the White House.
The former president claimed one county has already been "caught," although he misrepresented what is going on. Lancaster County officials announced that an investigation has begun after workers flagged about 2,500 voter registration forms for potential fraud. No determinations have been made.
Trump also referred to other complaints in other parts of Pennsylvania that are unproven.
The former president has long said without evidence that voter fraud impacted the results of the 2020 race for the White House. He launched a legal battle after Election Day four years ago in states across the country, but his claims of fraud were all rejected by courts.
He is currently facing federal criminal charges and state-level charges in Georgia over his alleged attempts to overturn the election.
The last days of Trump rallies
Trump reflected on his 2024 presidential campaign during his Allentown speech, telling the crowd he is now in the last week of political rallies that have defined his political career since he announced his first presidential campaign in June of 2015.
Win or lose, the 78-year-old Trump has claimed that this is his last campaign. He spoke longingly of how staff members will be working for other campaigns in four years, and how much he will miss the raucous rallies that have helped define his three presidential campaigns.
It has been "a special journey for all of us," Trump said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Takeaways: Trump bashes Harris, avoids talk of racism and Jan. 6