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Oh, What a Night!

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Who would have thought Donald's triumphant return to New York would turn into bedlam?  Just about everyone, but even by Trump standards this was a new low bar.  One that has drawn numerous comparisons to a German-American Bund Nazi Rally at the old Madison Square Garden in 1939.  It started with a few purported "jokes" about Puerto Ricans and quickly descended into a hate rally that had outsider Republicans scratching their heads, especially those locked in close races where the Hispanic vote matters.  

Trump has shown he has more lives than Fritz the Cat, so pundits and prognosticators aren't going so far as to say it is over.  But, it is pretty damning when members of your own party are scrambling to do damage control.  Marco Rubio accused the media of "smearing Trump supporters as Nazis!" in an all caps cry on X. There were plenty in attendance, Marco, as the crowd hooted and cheered as self-professed comedian Tony Hinchcliffe set the tone for the evening with all his "vile" jokes about Puerto Ricans and Blacks. 

So much for inclusion, as Stephen Miller ranted "America is for Americans," looking every bit the aging Nazi youth.  That's what most presidential candidates do in the waning days of a long and winding campaign.  They want to reach out to as many people as possible.  Not Trump and his Merry Magsters.  They want their loyal following to know they are with them to the bitter end. Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump Jr. and a host of others that preceded "The King of New York" voiced similar vile sentiments.  When the star of the evening came on, he was left no choice but to do them all one better by saying yet again how he planned to go after "the enemy within," referring to all those who have spoken out against him, including Kamala Harris.  This resulted in chants of "Lock her up!"  The Magapalooza stretched to over 6 hours and was duly recorded by PBS News.

The New York Times described it as "a closing carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism," an inflammatory rally that served as a capstone to an inflammatory campaign in which Trump had turned up the rhetorical heat at each successive rally.  It is hard to see how he will top this one in the remaining days, six to be precise, before the election.  But, knowing Donald he will find a way.  He's not one to back down from his vulgar and menacing nature.

With early voting well underway, Trump can gain some solace from 44 million votes already cast nationwide with big turnouts in Georgia and North Carolina.  These folks were not privy to the Carnival of Horrors, four days before Halloween. Still, there are 100 to 120 million votes outstanding with many waiting until the last day to cast their ballots.

There's no sugar coating it, as Marco and Lindsey have tried to do.  It was an unmitigated disaster and totally unnecessary.  He had to know he would have his largest audience yet for this rally, both in person and on television and social media.  The press was waiting to pounce on it, and no doubt it will be all they talk about this week.  I suppose in that sense it keeps him in the news, but is this the type of publicity you want to have?  Especially after Republicans had bent over backwards trying to downplay the charges of fascism from former generals in his administration.  We have seen the enemy and the enemy is Trump!


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