More outrage after Trump calls controversial New York rally ‘a lovefest’
Al Jazeera
Backlash is growing from the Sunday rally, where a comedian made crude jokes about migrants and Puerto Ricans.
The United States presidential candidate Donald Trump is facing more blowback from a controversial Madison Square Garden rally marred by sexist and racist insults, by calling it a “beautiful” event and “an absolute lovefest”.
Trump made the comments during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday, saying the rally in which a headline comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe, called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” was an unprecedented display of affection.
Despite a firestorm of outrage on social media from Democrats and a host of Puerto Rican celebrities, as well as some leading Republicans, Trump made no apology for the racist comments by Hinchcliffe and others.
Instead, he brushed off the critics who compared it to a 1939 Nazi event at the arena.
“There was love in the room. The love in that room was breathtaking,” Trump said. “Politicians that have been doing this for a long time – 30 and 40 years – said there’s never been an event so beautiful,” he added. “It was like a love fest, an absolute love fest, and it was my honour to be involved”.
