Trump says his New York rally marked by vulgar and racial slurs was an ‘absolute love fest’

But Trump, given the opportunity to apologize at events and in the interview, instead bowed out. Speaking from his Florida resort, he said there had “never been an event as beautiful” as his Sunday rally in his hometown of New York.

“Love in this room. It was breathtaking,” he said. “It was like a love fest, an absolute love fest. It was an honor to take part in it.”

Just a week before Election Day, some Trump allies expressed concern that a rally that was intended to highlight the GOP presidential nominee’s closing message in grand New York style instead instead distracted from it and even burdened it, given the electoral importance of Puerto Ricans living in Pennsylvania and other key swing states.

Trump was later scheduled to hold a rally in Allentown, a city with a large Latino population, where he will be joined by Puerto Rico’s shadow U.S. senator, Zoraida Buxo, according to a campaign official who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement. She expressed her support for Trump on the social media site X, saying Trump is the “strong leader” Puerto Rico needs.

Still, there was anger in Allentown. Ivet Figueroa, 61, stood outside the rally holding a trash can with the words “Trash Trump” written on it.

Of the insult and Trump, she said: “The person who said it was vetted by him. So he allowed it to happen, so he has to take responsibility for what he said. Now it’s too late to say “I’m sorry.” I don’t want an apology, I want justice, and justice will come on November 5.”

In Pennsylvania, the number of eligible Latino voters has nearly tripled since 2000. More than half of them are eligible voters from Puerto Rico.

The fallout from the garden event threatened to highlight voter concerns about Trump’s rhetoric and propensity for controversy in the final stages as both campaigns battled for votes. Speakers at the rally also made racist remarks about Latinos, Blacks, Jews and Palestinians, as well as sexist slurs directed at Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

On Tuesday, Trump tried to move past the controversy and turn back to Harris, denouncing her rival’s record on the border and inflation, saying that “on the issue after issue, she broke it” and “I’m going to fix it and fix it very quickly.” He did not answer reporters’ questions.

In an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Trump tried to distance himself from Hinchcliffe but did not condemn his words.

“I don’t know him. Someone put it there. I don’t know who he is,” Trump said, according to the network, insisting he had not heard Hinchcliffe’s comments. When asked what he thought of them, Trump “did not take the opportunity to condemn them, reiterating that he had not heard the comments,” ABC reported.

The comments sparked outrage among Puerto Rican leaders.

The archbishop of Puerto Rico called on Trump to disavow them, saying it was not enough for the campaign to say the joke did not reflect Trump’s views. The president of the Puerto Rican Republican Party called Hinchcliffe’s “poor attempt at comedy” “disgraceful, ignorant and completely reprehensible.”