Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., clashed with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” co-host Andrew Sorkin, after the journalist pressed the congressman on backlash to a comedian’s jokes at former President Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday.
Trump drew thousands of supporters and high profile speakers at the New York City rally, but media headlines called the event “racist” after one guest speaker, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage.”
The Trump campaign distanced itself from the comedian’s remarks, saying the joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Donalds, who spoke at the rally, also disavowed the comment when confronted on CNBC on Monday. He went on to say the media was “fearmongering” rather than talking about the “facts and substance” in other speeches at the rally.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., defended former President Trump against media headlines accusing him of leading a “racist” rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. (CNBC/Screenshot)
But a clash ensued after Sorkin claimed that this kind of “vitriol” wouldn’t be seen at a rally for Vice President Kamal Harris.
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Sorkin argued that some voters who support Trump’s policies won’t vote for him because of comments like these, drawing a contrast to rallies for Harris.
“The reason that they don’t want to vote for Trump is because they see, either in his character or the people who seem to support him, seem to be engaged in that or willing to engage in that, right?” Sorkin told Donalds. “Because what you don’t see, you don’t go to other rallies for Harris or see in a Harris rally that kind of vitriol.”
“You don’t?” Donalds asked in disbelief.
“I don’t think you do,” Sorkin said.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) speaks prior to Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump taking the stage at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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“Kamala Harris spends half her time talking about her rival as Hitler, after there’ve been attempts on his life, not once but twice,” Donalds said.
“She’s doing it right now. Every Democrat official at these rallies refers to him as Adolf Hitler. You got Hillary Clinton running around there hawking her book that nobody wants to buy, frankly, and she’s talking about how this is akin to 1939. Are you out of your mind? You want to talk about rhetoric? Let’s compare,” he added.
Donalds went on to say that “the real joke in America” was the Biden-Harris administration’s “terrible policies” on the economy and immigration that Puerto Ricans also have to live under.
Voters make selections at their voting booths inside an early voting site on October 17, 2024, in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Several counties effected by Hurricane Helene saw a large turnout of residents for the first day of early voting in Western North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)
On Sunday, MSNBC also aired a segment comparing Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden to a Nazi rally at the same location in 1939.
Harris called her GOP rival a “fascist” during a CNN town hall last week, and on social media.
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