Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Spells Out Trump Camp's 'Big Error' At NYC 'Hate Rally'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed Donald Trump s campaign for attempting to distance itself from some of the extreme rhetoric spewed at the Republican nominees New York City rally and said theyre just realizing that they might have made a big error by saying out loud what theyre thinking.

This was a hate rally, Ocasio-Cortez said on MSNBC s Morning Joe on Monday. I think its very important for people to understand that these are mini Jan. 6 rallies.

She said Trumps rallies are intended to prime an electorate into rejecting the results of an election if it doesnt go the way that they want.

And thats what theyre doing when they are inciting violence and hatred against Latinos, against black Americans, against Americans who dont have children , she said.

The rally was filled with anti-immigrant bigotry from Trump and other speakers, bringing the trademark fearmongering of his campaign to a fever pitch nearly four years after his supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol after consuming his lies about a stolen election.

\"This was a hate rally. This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally. I think it's important for people to understand these are mini January 6 rallies, these are mini Stop the Steal rallies.\" -@aoc @repaoc on Trump's New York City rally pic.twitter.com/c57RXnVo3d

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"This was a hate rally. This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally. I think it's important for people to understand these are mini January 6 rallies, these are mini Stop the Steal rallies." -@aoc @repaoc on Trump's New York City rally pic.twitter.com/c57RXnVo3d
Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) October 28, 2024

Ocasio-Cortez said the Trump campaign is scrambling to try to blame this rhetoric on a so-called comedian after Sundays rally.

Right-wing comedian Tony Hinchcliffe delivered a series of deeply racist lines ahead of Trumps appearance at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, including one where he called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage.

A Trump campaign adviser later said that joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.

Ocasio-Cortez dismissed the excuse. This is not a comedian. This is the Trump campaign. They invited this rhetoric on their stage for a reason.

It was vetted, and they knew exactly who was going to say what before they went on, she added, accusing the Republicans campaign of backtracking because tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans live in swing states and swing seat districts of the House.

Theyre just realizing that they might have made a big error by saying out loud what theyre thinking, she said.

The Trump campaign continued its cleanup on Monday morning, with spokesperson Karoline Leavitt joining Fox & Friends to criticize the media for picking up one joke in poor taste. The racist joke was criticized even by some of Trumps GOP allies in Congress .

Hinchcliffe had defended himself against backlash on social media Sunday night, insisting the joke wasnt racist and accusing Democrats of having no sense of humor. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone, he posted .

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Ocasio-Cortez responded to that tweet to advise, you dont love Puerto Rico. You like drinking pia coladas. Theres a difference.