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Democrats and Republicans in tight races seize on comments stemming from “garbage” joke at Trump rally
In the home stretch of the 2024 election, after a racist comment at a Trump rally comparing Puerto Rico to garbage, both parties are trying to fan political flames to burn the opposition on congressional races, in addition to the presidential contest.
In the hours after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe told a racist joke about Puerto Ricans at a rally for former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Democrats circulated a list of competitive U.S. House races in which people of Puerto Rican descent make up large percentages of the electorate.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Republican operatives have tried to seize on a gaffe by President Biden, in which he used the term “garbage” to describe the Trump supporter who made the racist joke. But Republicans have accused Mr. Biden of instead referring to all Trump supporters as “garbage” and are trying to tie Democratic congressional candidates to their accusation regarding the president’s words.
The dual controversies are being amplified and shifting the closing messages in the final few days before Election Day, amid highly competitive contests for control of the Senate and House.
According to a memo obtained by CBS News from Democratic campaign operatives, more than 10% of registered voters in Pennsylvania’s competitive 7th District House race are people of Puerto Rican descent. The memo also said at least 4% of registered voters have ties to Puerto Rico in a three competitive House races in New York, two more in Pennsylvania and at least one each in Florida and Connecticut.
Leaning into the Madison Square Garden rally controversy, Rep. Susie Lee, a Pennsylvania Democrat defending the battleground 7th Congressional District in and around Allentown, has already raised the issue. Speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “I am hearing more on this than I’ve heard on almost any other issue this entire campaign season.”
On Long Island, in New York’s competitive 4th District House race, Democratic candidate Laura Gillen amplified the firestorm over the racist joke Tuesday. Rep. Nydia Valazquez, a New York Democrat who was born in Puerto Rico, who was speaking at a Gillen campaign event for small businesses, referenced the controversy and joke.
Fighting to hold a competitive seat in Western Connecticut, Democratic Rep. Jahanna Hayes posted on social media, “Every person, not just the Puerto Rican community, should be saddened and upset by the behavior of the Trump rally at MSG.”
Republicans meanwhile are seeking to magnify President Biden’s potential gaffe from Tuesday.
“The President of the United States just smeared half of the country – House Democrats can speak up now to disagree, or their silence will say everything voters need to know,” GOP North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement.
Rep. Marc Molinaro, a first-term Republican who’s trying to defend his New York 19th Congressional District seat, posted on social media about Biden’s statement. Molinaro wrote in part, “Biden says if you don’t support Kamala Harris, you are garbage.”
Billionaire Elon Musk has been ordered to attend a Philadelphia court hearing on Thursday after he was sued by District Attorney Larry Krasner over his $1 million giveaway to voters.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in a courtroom at City Hall in Center City, according to a court document.
Last week, Krasner sued Musk and alleged that Musk and his super PAC are trying to influence voters in next week’s presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The Philadelphia District Attorney is charged with protecting the public from public nuisances and unfair trade practices, including illegal lotteries. The DA is also charged with protecting the public from interference with the integrity of elections,” Krasner said in a statement announcing the complaint last week.
Musk, who founded Tesla and SpaceX, has thrown his full support behind Trump in his run for a second term in the White House. Nearly two weeks ago, he vowed to hand out $1 million a day until Election Day on Nov. 5 to voters who signed his PAC’s petition supporting the First Amendment and Second Amendment of the Constitution.
Some experts have questioned the legality of Musk’s actions to give voters $1 million.
“The actions that we’re seeing … it violates federal law pretty clearly. Actually, I don’t think it’s a particularly close call,” Adav Noti, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, told CBS News last week.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also questioned Musk’s giveaway.
“I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into Pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. That is deeply concerning,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last week.
Musk has been very active in supporting Trump in Pennsylvania, one of the key battleground states in the election. He was in the Philadelphia area for a town hall on Oct. 17 calling on Pennsylvanians to get registered to vote.
At the town hall in Ridley High School in Delaware County, Musk called Pennsylvania “linchpin” for the 2024 election.
“I’m here for a very important reason, which is – I can’t emphasize this enough – Pennsylvania, I think, is the linchpin in this election,” Musk said at the time. “This election, I think, is going to decide the fate of America, and along with the fate of America, the fate of Western civilization.”
Joe Exotic, made famous in the Netflix series “Tiger King” and currently serving time in federal prison, says he is engaged to a fellow inmate in Texas and hopes to get married.
Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, is currently incarcerated at Federal Medical Center Fort Worth. He submitted a marriage application to the federal prison to wed fellow inmate Jorge Marquez Flores, he announced in a news release Wednesday.
Maldonado was convicted in 2019 on 21 counts, including 19 counts of wildlife crimes and two counts of hiring hitmen to kill animal activist Carole Baskin. He is serving a 21-year sentence.
His fiancé, 33-year-old Jorge Marquez Flores, originally from Mexico, is serving time for immigration-related issues, according to Maldonado’s news release.
According to Maldonado, both men are optimistic the prison will approve their application and have “high hopes” that Maldonado’s appeal will succeed. He hopes the two would be released from prison in mid-2025.
In his news release, Maldonado also requested a presidential pardon for both he and Flores, as well as asylum for Flores.
“I wish someone that is President or wins the Presidency would do the right thing and pardon me so I could move past this nightmare that my own country has caused for the last 7 years of my life,” Maldonado wrote in the news release. “All I did was build a zoo and some people were very jealous. Then I was put into prison by my own country.”
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