"Mini-January 6": Even Republicans are pushing back on the racism at Trump's MSG "hate rally"

Donald Trump was unbothered by the litany of racist speech that preceded him on Sunday. The former president instead focused his ire on “the enemy from within,” which he described in conspiratorial terms as an “amorphous” “radical left machine” that secretly controls President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Grant Cardone, a private equity manager and, for one night at least, a man of the people, described Harris as a prostitute whose “pimp handlers” would “destroy our country.” David Rem, a personal friend of the Republican nominee, waved a crucifix and declared that Harris was actually “the antichrist.” Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who last month hosted a Holocaust denier on his web show, mocked Harris’ racial background while laying the groundwork for a second MAGA insurrection. His racist jokes at the expense of Blacks and Latinos may have gone unremarked upon — this being the new normal for the Trump-era GOP — had he not also gone after Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that he described as a “floating island of garbage.” We need your help to stay independent Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism While Republicans are free to ignore Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million inhabitants, who are U.S. citizens deprived of the right to vote in a presidential general election, they are deeply concerned about the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans who live in the United States, many in battlegrounds such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin. “This rhetoric does not reflect GOP values,” Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., added, accusing Hinchcliffe of making a “racist comment.” Trump’s allies rarely describe anything at his rallies as “racist.” The difference this time was that the racism broke through to the masses: Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny, perhaps the most popular recording artist in the world, responded to the attack on his homeland by backing Harris and sharing her plan for developing the island.