'Garbage' comments at Trump rally reverberate among Latinos in CD4

Daily Point

Nassau Republican leaders join motorcade to rally, tout it as a 'tremendous day'

Among those in the crowd of 20,000 rallying for former President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Sunday were four key Long Island Republicans — who headed to the rally together, in Trump’s motorcade.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, former Rep. Peter King, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and Nassau Republican Chairman Joe Cairo joined the motorcade from Trump Tower, according to a photo Blakeman posted Sunday afternoon.

"We’re part of the motorcade in Manhattan for President @realDonaldTrump’s rally at Madison Square Garden," Blakeman wrote on the post, time-stamped at 3:19 p.m.

Blakeman spokesman Chris Boyle declined to comment in response to The Point’s questions about how the foursome got into Manhattan and whether they used a taxpayer-funded county vehicle and driver — and how they became part of the motorcade in the first place.

Blakeman told followers to tune in for Trump’s speech, but rightly noted that other attendees already had begun speaking.

Among them: comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who came under fire for calling Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage."

Those comments might particularly resonate in CD4, where approximately 17,500 residents identified as Puerto Rican, alone or in combination with other ethnicities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — about 2.3% of the district’s population. The district has about 160,700 people who are Hispanic or Latino, of any race, about 21% of the district’s population, according to the 2023 American Community Survey.

Less than two hours later, just before 5 p.m., Blakeman, King and D’Esposito appeared on Newsmax, where they were interviewed from a set in the Garden, as Trump adviser Stephen Miller was speaking from the stage.

"This is Ali-Frazier, Frank Sinatra and Donald Trump all in one," King said during the interview. "It’s a tremendous day for America, a tremendous day for New York."

D’Esposito used his time during the interview to focus on immigration and criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

"People are fed up," he said. "Early voting, the lines are down the street."

Blakeman echoed D’Esposito, saying "the foreign invasion of our border" was the top issue on people’s minds, with crime and affordability next. Blakeman said there were "thousands of New Yorkers" outside who "want Donald Trump."

"He’s going to do well in New York," Blakeman predicted.

Asked by the Newsmax host about references to the event in the context of a German American Bund rally in 1939, Blakeman said he was "offended" by the comparison.

"I’m a Jewish American Republican elected official, and Donald J. Trump is a great patriot. He’s a great American," Blakeman said. "He’s a friend of the Jewish people. He’s a friend of Israel. That was disgraceful what they said."

At no point in the conversation did anyone — including D’Esposito, whose mother is Puerto Rican — denounce Hinchcliffe’s comments.

D’Esposito posted a photo from the set, noting that "Nassau GOP is here in force at Madison Square Garden for the @realDonaldTrump rally!" Multiple accounts replied to the message with comments about Hinchcliffe.

But a source with knowledge told The Point that D’Esposito didn’t learn about the comedian’s act until later in the evening — after the appearance on Newsmax had concluded.

At 9:01 p.m., D’Esposito’s opponent, Democrat Laura Gillen, posted to X, sharing video of Hinchcliffe’s routine.

"Our Puerto Rican neighbors are a vital and important part of the fabric of NY-04 and Long Island who should be embraced, not slandered," she wrote. "It’s shocking that Anthony D’Esposito would applaud this hateful rhetoric instead of condemning it."

Three minutes later, at 9:04 p.m., D’Esposito posted on X about Hinchcliffe.

"I’m proud to be Puerto Rican. My mom was born and raised in Puerto Rico. It’s a beautiful island with a rich culture and an integral part of the USA," D’Esposito wrote. "The only thing that’s ‘garbage’ was a bad comedy set. Stay on message."

By Monday morning, Rep. Ritchie Torres, who is Puerto Rican, was in CD4 for a previously planned campaign stop with Gillen in Cedarhurst, where they met with voters at a Long Island Rail Road stop and focused on support for Israel and plans to fight antisemitism.

While the rally and the remarks about Puerto Rico were not a focus of the pair’s conversations with voters there, Torres already had weighed in on Trump’s rally Sunday evening.

"Ignore the haters heaping scorn on Puerto Rico at Donald Trump’s rally," he wrote. "Puerto Rico is not garbage. It’s gorgeous. The people. The culture. The island."

— Randi F. Marshall randi.marshall@newsday.com and Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Free to choose

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/0913nationalcartoons

Quick Points

There’s data, and then there’s data

• Overdose deaths nationally decreased between May 2023 and May 2024, a good story. But in the 22 states that track drug overdoses by race and ethnicity, overdoses among Black Americans are increasing. Data is data, but it depends on how you look at it.
• Some election officials around the country have installed big windows for public viewing as ballots are counted to increase transparency and boost confidence. Good idea, but remember: Rudy Giuliani saw videotape of Georgia workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss and claimed they were mishandling ballots, accusing Moss of handing Freeman a thumb drive that actually was a ginger mint.
• Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina rejected claims that former President Donald Trump is a fascist, saying, "Look at the record rather than the rhetoric." Sounds like a risky bet.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson is counting on former President Donald Trump’s support to keep his position should the GOP retain control of the House, saying, "I have a very close working relationship with President Trump and consider him now a close friend." The political graveyard is filled with people who thought that.
• Pope Francis’ long process to reform the Catholic Church ended without allowing women to be ordained as deacons after the Vatican’s top doctrinal officer told General Assembly attendees that the moment "is not ripe" for allowing ordination of women. Of course, he had no definition of ripeness and no answer on when that moment might be.
• President Joe Biden wants to get out and campaign for Kamala Harris, something Harris’ campaign does not want to see. It’s kind of like that moment when you need to take the car keys from Dad.

— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com

Subscribe to The Point here and browse past editions of The Point here.