Politics

/

ArcaMax

Editorial: Trump's Garden party of crude, racist hatred

South Florida Sun Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel on

Published in Political News

Donald Trump knows New York.

So surely he knew that holding a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden would inevitably evoke allusions to the one that out-and-out Nazis staged there in 1939. It remains a flashpoint of fascism.

Trump’s Sunday night rally didn’t just recall that event — it resembled it.

There hasn’t been anything so hateful at America’s most famous sports palace since Nazis flaunted swastika flags and cracked jokes about “President Rosenfeld.”

‘A floating island of garbage’

Back then, the targets of hatred were Jews. Today’s targets of hatred are immigrants, especially if they speak Spanish.

Trump selected so-called comedian Tony Hinchcliffe to open the program. Here’s what he said: “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. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

Another despicable off-color remark followed, about Hispanics and birth rates.

Perhaps Hinchcliffe is so uninformed that he doesn’t know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. But that’s beside the point.

MAGA Square Garden

The sewage that spewed from his mouth at MAGA Square Garden is consistent with the tenor of Trump’s campaign. He’s as responsible for what Hinchcliffe said, despite his campaign’s feeble attempt to disclaim it, as if he had said it himself.

Notably, the campaign did not repudiate Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who retweeted Hinchcliffe’s remark. Like father, like son.

This new low point in American political history will not go unnoticed in Florida, where Latinos accounted for 17% of votes cast in 2020, and especially on the I-4 corridor, where many Puerto Ricans call Osceola and Orange counties home.

But it’s not only Puerto Ricans who rightfully resent what was said. Every decent American should.

A campaign that consistently appeals to people’s worst instincts to get votes takes them to be as bigoted as the campaign itself, and in a week or so, the world will know how true that is.

‘A bunch of degenerates’

 

Hinchliffe wasn’t the only invited speaker spewing vile hatred at the Garden.

Sid Rosenberg, a conservative New York radio “shock jock” who worked at stations in West Palm Beach and Miami, referred to Democrats this way: “The whole f—–g party, a bunch of degenerates, lowlifes, Jew-haters and lowlifes.” He said that “f—–g illegals get whatever they want.”

These were the warmup speeches in advance of the headliner, who might just be the next president of the United States.

What has happened to this country? After nine years of Trump, too many Americans have grown numb to his nativist, racist, sexist ways, from “Lock her up!” to “grab’em by the p—y” to “they’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats.”

Trump’s campaign conspicuously did not repudiate the vile comments by his speakers (except for the “island of garbage” talk), and Trump himself repeated a refrain about “the enemy within.”

The enemy within is that kind of an appeal to voters. It should not be only the Democrats and the media who take a stand against it. Republicans should, too, but too few have.

Criticism from Miami

Rep., Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Miami, whose parents fled Castro’s Cuba, said she was “disgusted” and that “this rhetoric does not reflect GOP values.” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Miami, a Cuban immigrant, said it “definitely doesn’t reflect my values.”

The trouble is, it does reflect the values of every Republican who does not condemn it.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott, running for re-election, said Hinchcliffe’s crude attack on Puerto Rico is “not funny and it’s not true.” He praised Puerto Ricans as “amazing people and amazing Americans.”

Scott needs to do more to effectively disassociate himself from what Trump’s presidential campaign has come to be.

It’s time for Scott and all Republicans to reaffirm, repeatedly and unmistakably, what Americans once took for granted: We’re a nation of immigrants. We owe our greatness to the ambition, talent, energy, hard work and, above all, overwhelming patriotic love for our democracy that they brought to these shores.

____

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

___


©2024 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit at sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

ACLU

ACLU

By The ACLU
Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

By Amy Goodman
Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Bill Press

Bill Press

By Bill Press
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
Clarence Page

Clarence Page

By Clarence Page
Danny Tyree

Danny Tyree

By Danny Tyree
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Dick Polman

Dick Polman

By Dick Polman
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
Froma Harrop

Froma Harrop

By Froma Harrop
Jacob Sullum

Jacob Sullum

By Jacob Sullum
Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

By Jamie Stiehm
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

By Jeff Robbins
Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson

By Jessica Johnson
Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower

By Jim Hightower
Joe Conason

Joe Conason

By Joe Conason
Joe Guzzardi

Joe Guzzardi

By Joe Guzzardi
John Micek

John Micek

By John Micek
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Marc Munroe Dion

Marc Munroe Dion

By Marc Munroe Dion
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

By Michael Reagan
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

By Oliver North and David L. Goetsch
R. Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell

By R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry

By Rich Lowry
Robert B. Reich

Robert B. Reich

By Robert B. Reich
Ruben Navarrett Jr

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus

By Ruth Marcus
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Susan Estrich

Susan Estrich

By Susan Estrich
Ted Rall

Ted Rall

By Ted Rall
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell

By Tom Purcell
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

RJ Matson Al Goodwyn David Horsey Scott Stantis Dave Whamond Bill Day