GOP lawmakers on defense over Trump rally rhetoric
Harris to set out final message in D.C. speech tonight
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 29, 2024:
Why did a bad joke about Puerto Rico become a big deal?
Subscribers flee Washington Post in endorsement flap.
GOP rushes voting cases to Supreme Court.
TRUMP RALLY. Instead of generating momentum for Republicans, Donald Trump's campaign rally on Sunday in New York City has done the complete opposite - handing Democrats easy campaign fodder and putting GOP lawmakers on the defensive just one week before Election Day. As I wrote on Monday, it quickly morphed into an unforced error at exactly the wrong time.
GOP. "Let me be crystal clear," said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who is in a difficult reelection race on Long Island. "I categorically condemn the racist comments made by one unfunny comedian," as Lawler also denounced 'inappropriate rhetoric by others' who appeared well before Trump spoke.
COMMENTS. That comedian was Tony Hinchcliffe, who wasn’t riffing - he was reading off the teleprompter when he said that Puerto Rico was an island filled with garbage. "The only thing that’s ‘garbage’ was a bad comedy set," said Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY), who is also in a tough reelection race.
SUNSHINE. New York is not the only state with a significant Puerto Rican voting population - Florida is another - and the 'Puerto Rico is garbage' jab was not welcomed. "This joke bombed for a reason," said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). "It's not funny and it's not true." Democrats quickly attacked Scott.
DEMS. “The only garbage is the hate spewing out of Trump and his allies like Scott," said ex-Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), who is running a longshot bid against Scott, as she tried to turn the tables on the Florida Senator.
JOKES. Just in case you haven’t heard what was said, here’s just a small piece of what set off this story.
TODAY. I can say definitively as a reporter that this story isn’t going away today. Why? Because Trump is certain to get asked about the rally when he holds a news conference this morning at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Tonight, Trump will hold a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which also just happens to be home to a substantial Puerto Rican and Hispanic community.
BOORAY. The wild card on this matter is Trump himself. Let’s see how disciplined he is today, one week out from Election Day. We all know that Trump’s default setting is to double down when he is attacked - and you never know what he might say to reporters, or on stage.
NOT AN ISSUE. Asked about what was said at Sunday's Madison Square Garden rally, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) said the outrage was garbage. "It's telling that Kamala Harris's closing message is essentially that all of Donald Trump's voters are Nazis, and you should get really pissed off about a comedian telling a joke that is not the message of a winning campaign," Vance said.
FETTERMAN. But Democrats were having none of that. "To our Puerto Rican neighbors in Reading, Allentown, Philly, and across Pennsylvania," tweeted Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), "Know you have somebody who will fight for you and your families every day—not make you a punchline."
CELEBS. Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris were again given a boost by a number of Puerto Rican stars, who suddenly found themselves publicly rejecting Trump. "This election goes way beyond political parties," said Puerto Rican singer Marc Anthony, who recalled Trump slow-walking hurricane aid to the island.
IMPACT. Again, I’m not saying that the Trump campaign is going to collapse because of a joke told by a comedian that no one could pick out of a police lineup. But the fact that Republicans are going to see this topping the news for a few days tells you that it isn’t something which helps Trump.
NEWS. While writing today’s newsletter, I was puzzled about one basic thing. Why did this bad joke about Puerto Rico become a big media story, while so many other crazy and offensive things that have been said by Trump or his supporters just disappeared? I don’t know the answer. Maybe you have some ideas.
LOOK AWAY. Here is one final thing from that Sunday Trump rally, which I just can't make up. When Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) was getting ready to speak, there was music. I always enjoy finding out why baseball players pick certain song snippets for their 'walk up music.' But I never expected this choice of a song for a Black member of Congress.
DIXIE LAND. You know the tune, and many of you might remember the words, from what was basically the most popular song to emerge from the Confederacy. "I wish I was in the land of cotton, Old times there are not forgotten, Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land."
CHOICE. Let’s be honest. Someone affiliated with the Trump Campaign had to come up with the idea of using that song for a Black lawmaker. Playing ‘Dixie’ used to be something cool (just ask a bunch of colleges in the South) - but this selection does not seem very cool at all.
SUPREME COURT. One week before Election Day, one of the main battlegrounds in the 2024 campaign is not a specific state - but on the docket at the U.S. Supreme Court, as Republicans continue legal challenges on a series of election-related cases. There isn’t much time for the justices to act on any election items.
APPEALS. The latest cases to arrive on Monday came from Virginia and Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court isn't fooling around, asking for reply briefs to be filed by this afternoon. The reason the GOP is bringing these cases to the Court is that Republicans are losing in lower courts.
KEYSTONE. In the Pennsylvania case, that state's Supreme Court says it is okay for voters who did not properly follow the directions on their mail-in ballot to be allowed to cast a provisional ballot - to make sure their vote gets counted (just one of them). The GOP argues that goes against current law.
OLD DOMINION. In Virginia, the case brought by Republicans is about an effort by state officials to purge the voter rolls of non-citizens. As I wrote on Monday, lower courts said that it is okay to ferret out non-citizens - but officials cannot just throw thousands of people off the rolls (many of whom are likely U.S. citizens).
WASHINGTON POST. One story creating a very big buzz here in Washington, D.C. in recent days was the very odd situation of the Washington Post editorial board suddenly deciding not to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris - for reasons which seemed to be mainly about the owner's desire to curry favor with Donald Trump.
AMAZON. The owner of the Post is Jeff Bezos, the same guy who owns Amazon. Executives of his Blue Origin space company met with Trump last week - just as news was breaking of the Post's decision not to endorse in the race for President. It has led to resignations from the Post editorial board and a huge number of subscription cancellations.
LETTER. "I consider the decision by Mr. Bezos to pull the Washington Post out of the business of writing presidential endorsements to be a shameful capitulation," wrote Danielle Allen, who resigned from the editorial board. "Independence has been lost with this decision, not gained."
SUBSCRIBERS. The backlash has been huge, as the paper has definitely taken a hit to its bottom line. National Public Radio reported on Monday that over 200,000 people have canceled their subscriptions to the Post because of this incident - which is a gigantic number.
RUMBLINGS. It's also caught the eye of Democrats in Congress. "Editorial media outlets refusing to make political endorsements for fear of reprisals is a dark sign that should shake every freedom loving American," said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ).
ONE WEEK LEFT. My view on the state of the campaign is unchanged with one week to go. Republicans are favored to win control of the Senate. Democrats are probably a slight favorite to win the House - but I won't be shocked if the GOP keeps a paper-thin majority. I see the race for the White House the same way.
ELLIPSE. Beginning the stretch run, Vice President Kamala Harris will highlight her final campaign push tonight with a speech at the Ellipse - in the same spot where Donald Trump spoke at his 'Stop the Steal' rally before a mob of his supporters laid siege to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
SCENE. For those who don’t know, the Ellipse is the large grassy area between the White House and the Washington Monument. Harris will speak around 7 pm, and officials expect up to 20,000 people to show up.
EARLY VOTE. President Biden cast his vote on Monday, going to an early voting site in New Castle, Delaware to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. "Do you think she will win?" a reporter asked the President. "I think we will win," Biden answered.
GARDEN RALLY. Asked about Donald Trump's Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden, Biden did not mince words about his predecessor. "Just simply embarrassing," Biden said. "That’s why this election is so important," as Biden said character is what's important. "He puts that in question every time he opens his mouth."
SKED. Those readers who have been with me for many years will remember my goofy line about elections - 'The schedule tells a story.' That's very true for Donald Trump in a few instances in this final stretch of the campaign. It's a story that I frankly don't understand.
CHOICES. Trump already held that rally in New York, which made no sense to me. This week he will also be in New Mexico and Virginia, two states where he is likely to lose - and it probably won't be close. Trump lost in New Mexico by 11 points in 2020, and he lost in Virginia by 10 points.
RAP SHEET. A Florida man has been charged with assaulting police on Jan. 6. Jeremy Miller was seen repeatedly grappling with officers who were trying to hold off Trump supporters from getting to the Capitol building, grabbing bike rack barricades and even police riot shields. At one point, Miller also threw a metal pole at officers.
MUSE OF HISTORY. October 29, 1913. On this date, Rep. James Aswell of Louisiana rose on the House floor to talk about race. "Mr. Speaker, I live in the South, where the negro is contented and happy," Aswell began, objecting to recent remarks by civil rights activist Oswald Villard. "Would Mr. Villard or any other white man suggest a negro being President of the United States?" Aswell said. "The average negro himself would not suggest such an absurd proposition."
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on November 12.
The Senate comes back for votes on November 12.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a cup of coffee.
Thank you Mr. Dupree for drilling down on this about the MSG rally — from “Dixie” to the speakers to the jokes, it was all PLANNED by the campaign. That PR joke and the other comments from the other racist misogynistic speakers (including Tucker Carlson) were all on the agenda. The only exception was when 45 inevitably wandered from his remarks on the prompter.
Given 45’s own comment about Johnson at the rally, it appears the campaign is just firing up the worst people in the base for another Jan. 6 and Trump expects to regain power without necessarily the aid of the electoral college. We literally have people setting fire to ballot boxes already. I fear we should all brace ourselves. These people are telling us who they are and what their plans are. We need to listen.
As for why the PR insult is resonating when others haven't (as much): Puerto Ricans are Americans. Previous targets are perceived as "others", even if naturalized.