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.

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  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    24 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
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      24 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
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    24 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
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      24 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
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        24 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
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    24 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
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    24 days ago

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

  • Suavevillain@lemmy.world
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    24 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
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    24 days ago

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

    • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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      24 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
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