Newsmax’s coverage of Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden began on Oct. 9, when an article by Sandy Fitzgerald hyped that Trump “is planning a major campaign rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, nine days before Election Day.” Solange Reyner rewrote a Trump campaign press release on Oct. 14:
Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Oct. 27 at 5 p.m., his campaign announced Monday.
“New York is reeling from the harmful effects of the dangerously liberal policies championed by Kamala Harris and Democrats like Eric Adams,” the Trump campaign said in a press release.
[…]Trump’s message to New Yorker is “simple and built on his winning record: If you want to return to the strongest economy in over 60 years, rising wages, quality jobs, strong borders, and safer neighborhoods, then vote for the Trump-Vance ticket,” the release said.
Antoher article that day touted a Republican New York City councilwoman declaring it to be “very exciting” that Trump was holding a rally in New York City.
On the day of the rally on Oct. 27, Newsmax kicked things off with a wire article accurately noting that the rally is “a high-profile spectacle aimed at generating media buzz in a state that he is likely to lose on Nov. 5.” That was followed by talking heads serving up pre-rally gushing:
- Allen West to Newsmax: Trump’s N.Y. Rally ‘Upsetting the Apple Cart’
- Pete King to Newsmax: Trump Belongs at Madison Square Garden
- Rep. Stefanik to Newsmax: Trump’s N.Y. Rally Will Be ‘Historic’
Then came the usual Trump stenography:
- Trump at MSG: Harris Is ‘Vessel’ for ‘Radical Left Machine’
- Trump at MSG: NYC Mayor Adams Treated ‘Very Badly’ by Feds
Afterward, there were the usual right-wing talking heads spouting mandatory praise of Trump:
- Markwayne Mullin to Newsmax: Trump Showing He’s a ‘Real Leader’
- Mike Huckabee to Newsmax: ‘MAGA Square Garden’ Rally ‘Electric’
- Rep. Malliotakis to Newsmax: Trump’s New York Rally ‘Fantastic’
- Karoline Leavitt to Newsmax: Trump MSG Rally ‘Epic Night’
- RNC Chair to Newsmax: Madison Square Garden Rally: Voters Want Change
When some noted the parallels to Trump’s rally and a pro-Nazi rally held at Madison Square Garden (actually the current arena’s predecessor) in 1939, Newsmax made sure to register right-wing unhappiness with that comparison. The apparently unironically named Charlie McCarthy grumbled in an Oct. 28 article:
Social media users lambasted MSNBC after the left-leaning TV network showed Nazi rally clips during its coverage of former President Donald Trump’s campaign gathering at Madison Square Garden.
The network compared Trump’s Sunday event at the sold-out New York mecca to a 1939 Nazi rally at MSG.
“But that jamboree happening right now, you see it there on your screen in that place is particularly chilling because in 1939, more than 20,000 supporters of a different fascist leader, Adolf Hitler, packed the Garden for a so-called pro-America rally,” the MSNBC anchor said while showing the footage.
Critics of MSNBC’s coverage expressed their outrage.
[…]Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X, blasted MSNBC as the “scum of the Earth” on his social media platform, the New York Post reported.
The Democratic National Committee joined the mainstream media in trying to tie Trump to fascism. During the rally, the DNC projected digital messages on Madison Square Garden’s exterior.
“Trump praised Hitler,” one of five planned projections from the DNC said.
More complaints followed:
- RFK Jr: Trump MSG Rally Was Opposite of Nazism
- Sen. Rubio: Kelly, Former Trump Officials Lying With Fascist Claims
- Melania Trump: My Husband Is ‘Not Hitler’
One thing Newsmax was not eager to report on, however, was warm-up alleged comedian Tony Hinchcliffe disgustingly smearing Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” and claiming he “carved watermelons” with a black man on Halloween. Newsmax’s first article on Hinchcliffe was an Oct. 28 article by Jim Thomas focused on bashing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticizing him and the rally:
Democratic Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., ignited fierce backlash from MAGA supporters after likening former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally to a “mini-Jan. 6.”
Her remarks sparked heated responses across social media, fueling an ongoing debate over the event’s tone and rhetoric.
[…]The controversy began when comedian Tony Hinchcliffe opened the event with remarks that quickly raised objections.
Hinchcliffe’s jokes about Puerto Rico, Hispanics, and Black Americans sparked criticism, with many observers — including Ocasio-Cortez — deeming the commentary offensive. Though Trump’s campaign promptly distanced itself from Hinchcliffe’s statements, the fallout continued.
Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent, voiced her strong disapproval on the left appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
She said, “This was a hate rally,” and argued that the event mirrored the incitement that led up to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
“We have to understand how unhinged this campaign has gotten,” she said, suggesting that the rhetoric was aimed at stirring animosity toward groups such as Latinos, Black Americans, and even “childless Americans.”
In response to the criticism, Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez released a statement emphasizing that Hinchcliffe’s joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Thomas then tried to defend Hinchcliffe and the rally:
Hinchcliffe is a well-known comic with a popular stand-up show. However, his performance and the rally’s larger themes became a focal point in online debates, with some MAGA supporters opposing Ocasio-Cortez’s characterization. Many attendees noted that the event featured a diverse crowd, including members of various racial and ethnic groups.
An article that day by Mark Swanson let Hinchcliffe blame people who didn’t find his sleazy insults funny:
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by the stage name “Kill Tony,” pushed back on the outrage machine in the aftermath of his joke about Puerto Rico at Sunday’s rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, saying Democrats “have no sense of humor.”
Hinchcliffe aimed his remarks at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrat vice presidential candidate, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who criticized the comic in real time Sunday during their live stream on Twitch.
“These people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist,” Hinchcliffe said in a post to X on Monday.
Newsmax offered up other reactions, as well as an attempt to distance Trump from the controversy:
- Trump to ABC: I Didn’t Hear Comedian’s Comments
- Harris Campaign Cuts Ad After Puerto Rico ‘Garbage’ Joke
- Puerto Rican Mayor Dismisses Joke Outrage: ‘Let’s Get Real’
- Puerto Rico’s Largest Paper Backs Harris After Joke Flap
- Puerto Rican Voters Thrust Into Battleground Spotlight
- Reggaeton Star Nicky Jam Pulls Trump Endorsement
- Joe Rogan Says He Told Comic Not to Joke About Puerto Rico
Newsmax then tried to bury HInchcliffe’s insult with a claim about something Presidenrt Biden allegedly said, as described in an Oct. 29 article by Kate McManus: ‘As controversy raged Tuesday over comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico being a ‘floating island of garbage,’ President Joe Biden jumped into the fray by calling supporters of former President Donald Trump actual ‘garbage.'”