Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

We might as well start with the lowdown from last night’s Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden. That would be Tony Hinchcliffe, a podcaster who is part of Joe Rogan’s circle, and who was the first speaker of the evening.

“These Latinos also love making babies. Just know that. They do. They do. There is no pulling out. They don’t. They’re coming in,” he joked. “Just like they did to our country.” A minute later: “I don’t know if you know this, but there is literally a floating trash island in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.’ It took him a few more minutes to get to the joke about black people loving watermelons. New, exciting stuff – for a minstrel show in 1874.

Other speakers were only slightly better. A childhood friend of Donald Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris “the antichrist” and “the devil.” Radio host Sid Rosenberg called her husband, Doug Emhoff, “a worthless Jew.” Tucker Carlson made a comment about Harris vying to become “the first low-IQ Samoan-Malaysian former California prosecutor ever elected president.” Stephen Miller went all out and declared, “America is only for Americans and Americans.” (In 1939, a Nazi rally at the old Madison Square Garden promised to “bring America back to the real Americans.”) Melania Trump gave a rare public speech that served mainly as a reminder of why her speeches are rare.

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Only then did Trump take the stage and call Harris a “person with a very low IQ.” He vowed: “On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history.” He proposed a tax break for caregivers, but the idea was quickly lost in the sea of ​​offensive comments.

Republicans who aren’t MAGA diehards reacted with dismay and disgust — presumably at the political fallout, because they can’t possibly be surprised by the content at this point. Politics Playbook, a useful handbook of conventional wisdom, this morning quotes Republicans concerned about alienating Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. (Yesterday, Harris visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia and received the approval of Puerto Rican pop superstar Bad Bunny.)

“Stick to the message,” urged Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a New York Republican who is in a tight reelection race. That’s ridiculous. This – all of this – is the message of Trump’s campaign. Other Republicans may cringe at the crassness of these comments, or worry that they will cost them votes, but they made their choice long ago and have stuck with it despite years of bigotry and other ugliness.

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Trump thrives on nativism, gross stereotypes and lies about immigrants. He has humiliated Harris in insulting and personal terms. He has attacked American Jews for not supporting him. His disdain for Puerto Rico is longstanding, and his insensitivity after Hurricane Maria in 2017 was one of the most disgusting moments of an abhorrent presidency. He feuded with the island’s elected officials, his government tried to block aid, and he tried to swap U.S. territory for Greenland. (The Trump campaign said Hinchcliffe’s routine “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” which is also absurd. He was invited by Trump to appear at a rally for Trump’s campaign, and made the joke while standing in front of a lectern with Trump’s name.)

The Trump campaign itself can be completely satisfied with how it all turned out. Madison Square Garden, the most famous venue in Manhattan, a place that still fascinates him, was packed to the rafters for him. The counter-protests were muted even as speakers at the meeting boasted about joining the beating heart of liberalism. (If The New York TimesNate Cohn writes: New York City has moved somewhat in his direction, although hopes that he will win the city or state remain far-fetched.)

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The whole point of the meeting was provocation. Trump has long demonstrated the view that it is better for people to talk about him — even if they are outraged — than about anyone else. The record is murky: Trump won in 2016 but lost the popular vote, lost in 2020 and led his party to poor performances in 2018 and 2022. But he seems to believe this year could be different. Trump calculates that if people think about immigration and race, they will move toward him, even if they disapprove of the policy solutions he offers (or simply don’t believe he will implement them).

Some Democrats agree, worrying that the Harris campaign’s recent turn toward attacking Trump is a missed opportunity for the Democrat to make a positive case for himself or refocus on economic focus issues. The pro-Harris super PAC Future Forward warned in an email that “attacking Trump’s fascism is not that convincing,” while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Harris surrogate, warned that the meeting was “bait.”

In terms of electoral calculations, it could be futile for Harris to focus on last night’s insulting comments. But as a summary of what Trump stands for as a candidate and what he would bring to office, the meeting was an effective medium for his closing message.