Trump concludes MSG rally with anti-immigrant rhetoric

The rally that campaign officials say is about bringing a diverse group of supporters together started with some speakers who made disparaging comments about Hispanic and Black Americans, a voter group the Trump campaign is attempting to court in deep-Blue New York.

It started with comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who made explicit jokes about Latinos and turned to Trump’s recent comments calling the United States the “garbage can” of the world, and then made a racist joke at the expense of a Black supporter in the crowd.

Even the lively audience seemed uncomfortable by Hinchcliffe’s remarks, and Hinchcliffe attempted to make jokes about the lack of applause and laughs to his offensive comments.

After an off-color joke about how Latinos “love making babies,” Hinchcliffe said, “I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it's called Puerto Rico. Okay, alright, okay, we're getting there again.”

The discriminatory comments kept going when Hinchcliffe pointed to a Black supporter in the crowd, calling his durag a “lampshade,” claiming he was his friend.

“That's one of my buddies. He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together. It was awesome, you guys, this is a groany little morning crowd, huh?” he continued.

ABC News' Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh

In a direct-to-camera video posted on X, Harris announced her intention to create a new "Opportunity Task Force" for Puerto Rico should she win the election. It would involve the federal government working "with the private sector, with nonprofits and community leaders, to foster economic growth and create thousands of new, good paying jobs in Puerto Rico."

Harris also slammed Trump for how he handled Hurricane Maria in 2017. Trump infamously tossed paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Ricans at a relief center in the hurricane-ravaged territory after Maria hit. Harris accused the former president of "abandoning the island."

She promised to "cut red tape" so that the island can "urgently” rebuild and modernize the island's energy grid.

On Sunday, Harris visited Freddy & Tony's Restaurant, a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, where she also discussed her new task force.

On Friday, Harris’ campaign released a new ad titled "Recuerdo" (memory) with singer Marc Anthony blasting Trump over how he handled Maria.

In the minute-long spot, Anthony, who is of Puerto Rican descent, says he remembers Trump's actions and the rest of America should as well.

"I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island, Trump blocked billions in relief while thousands died,” Martin says in the ad. “I remember when our families lacked clean water and electricity, Trump threw paper towels and called Puerto Rico 'dirty and poor.'”

“Recuerdo” will air nationally on Telemundo and WAPA America TV during Sunday’s coverage of the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards, and in Pennsylvania on Telemundo and Univision.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie

High-profile Trump supporter Elon Musk denied working illegally in the United States, responding to President Joe Biden citing a Washington Post report that he might have worked in the country without appropriate work authorization earlier in his career in the 1990s.

"I was in fact allowed to work in the US. The Biden puppet is lying," Musk wrote on X, responding to a video clip of Biden criticizing Musk for working illegally when he was supposed to be studying.

The Washington Post reporting comes as Musk continues to bash undocumented immigrants and stress the importance of "legal immigration."

In 2013, Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk publicly talked about their experiences as founders of their company, describing their status as "illegal" and "grey area."

"In fact, when they, when they did fund us, they realized that we were illegal immigrants," Kimbal Musk said during the Milken Institute Global Conference.

"Well…" Elon Musk said.

"Yes, we were," Kimbal Musk responded.

"I'd say it was a gray area," Elon Musk said.

"Yes, we were," Kimbal Musk continued. "I was -- we were illegal immigrants. We were sleeping in the office. We didn't have a car -- we had one car, but the wheel kept falling."

The Washington Post story details Musk's alleged history of coming to the United States in the mid 1990s under a student visa and not actually enrolling in any classes -- instead using his time in the country to work on his startup company, which experts told the Post was illegal.

The article cites Musk's former business associates and investors of his startup expressing concerns about his visa status at the time, to the point that it had become an obstacle to going public with the startup company.

-ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Michelle Stoddart

HENDERSON, Nev. -- Harris vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz likened Trump's rally later today at Madison Square Garden to the Nazi rally held there in the 1930s ahead of World War II.

Speaking at a reproductive freedom bus tour kickoff near Las Vegas, Walz warned the crowd that Trump and his campaign are aware of the parallel.

"Donald Trump has descended into madness over the last few weeks, and I think some of you don't miss on this -- Go do your Google on this," he said.

"Donald Trump's got this big rally going at Madison Square Garden. There's a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid 1930s at Madison Square Garden and don't think that he doesn't know for one second exactly what they're doing there," he said.

In February 1939, The German American Bund -- a pro-Nazi organization for Americans of German descent -- held a rally at MSG with about 20,000 attendees.

Walz's statement comes after other high-profile Democrats have suggested this similarity, including 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"One other thing that you'll see next week… is Trump actually re-enacting the Madison Square Garden rally in 1939. I write about this in my book," Clinton told CNN on Thursday.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray