Donald J. Trump and his allies are full of bravado over his chances of victory in the closing days of the 2024 campaign. But there are signs, publicly and privately, that the former president and his team are worried that their opponents’ descriptions of him as a racist and a fascist may be breaking through to segments of voters.

That anxiety was clear after Mr. Trump’s six-hour event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where the inflammatory speeches on Sunday included an opening act by a comedian known for a history of racist jokes who derided Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” and talked about Black people carving watermelons.

The backlash among Puerto Rican celebrities and performers was instantaneous across social media, prompting the Trump campaign to issue a rare defensive statement distancing themselves from offensive comments. In a tight race, any constituency could be decisive and the sizable Puerto Rican community in the battleground state of Pennsylvania was on the minds of Trump allies.

MBFC
Archive

  • Optional@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    106
    ·
    15 days ago

    . . . his team are worried that their opponents’ descriptions of him as a racist and a fascist may be breaking through to segments of voters.

    They’re worried he’s racist and fascist?

    “No, they’re worried some voters might be figuring that out and not vote for him”

    Oh.

    • _bcron_@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      48
      ·
      edit-2
      15 days ago

      It’d be funny for NYT to actually call him racist, get sued for libel, and then NYT dumps 3 printer paper cartons of him doing overtly racist things on their doorstep during discovery. “Here’s what we’re bringing to court, see you next Tuesday”

  • Funderpants @lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    53
    ·
    15 days ago

    Maybe Republicans should think of Puerto Ricans as human beings first, rather than as just a source of votes and grift income.

    • AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      15 days ago

      Puerto Ricans (in Puerto Rico) can’t vote for president, so maybe their hope was that it wouldn’t matter what they said about them? Hopefully people in swing states prove them wrong at the ballot box.

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        19
        ·
        15 days ago

        It’s a good thing that there are no Puerto Ricans living in the continental US who are eligible to vote. Like, imagine if there was something like a 2-to-1 ratio of Puerto Ricans in the US as those on the island? That’d be craaaaazy.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    47
    ·
    15 days ago

    But there are signs, publicly and privately, that the former president and his team are worried that their opponents’ descriptions of him as a racist and a fascist may be breaking through to segments of voters.

    No there is fucking not. Trump’s own silence about it is deafening. A couple of campaign lackeys trying to spin it away in “a statement” and “a fucking tweet” doesn’t even rise to the level of lip service.

  • _bcron_@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    24
    ·
    edit-2
    15 days ago

    Too late. Boricuas suddenly reminded of the piss-poor response to Hurricane Maria. Trump indeed has nothing but contempt

  • Suavevillain@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    15 days ago

    Harris you might want to crank out a fresh attack ad. While you got the time. Now he cares about racism suddenly lol?

  • GladiusB@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    15 days ago

    Kamala should just call him a racist. Because that’s what he is. Anyone else is willfully ignorant.

    • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      15 days ago

      Nope. She should stick to how well the economy has recovered, and anti-abortion laws are putting married women who are trying to have babies at risk. Oh, and the border has actually been 3x stronger under Biden than under Trump.

      Because of Kamala pushes racism, Trump can swoop in at the last second and denounce that comedian with a big show speech.

      Let the press cover it.

  • Media Bias Fact Checker@lemmy.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    9
    ·
    15 days ago
    Media Bias/Fact Check - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)

    Information for Media Bias/Fact Check:

    Wiki: unreliable - There is consensus that Media Bias/Fact Check is generally unreliable, as it is self-published. Editors have questioned the methodology of the site’s ratings.


    MBFC: Least Biased - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: Very High - United States of America


    The New York Times - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)

    Information for The New York Times:

    Wiki: reliable - There is consensus that The New York Times is generally reliable. WP:RSOPINION should be used to evaluate opinion columns, while WP:NEWSBLOG should be used for the blogs on The New York Times’s website. The 2018 RfC cites WP:MEDPOP to establish that popular press sources such as The New York Times should generally not be used to support medical claims.


    MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: High - Factual Reporting: High - United States of America


    Search topics on Ground.News

    https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/new-york-times/
    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/28/us/politics/trump-msg-rally-backlash.html

    Media Bias Fact Check | bot support